BV  3785  .C5  08 

Ottman,  Ford  C.  1859-1929. 

J.  Wilbur  Chapman 

J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN 
A  BIOGRAPHY 


J.  Wilbur  Chapman 


'  261^ 


^7^- 

J,  WILBUR  CHAPMAN 

A  BIOGRAPHY 

BY. 
FORD  C.'OTTMAN 


INTRODUCTION  BY 

John  F.  Carson 


GARDEN  CITY  NEW  YORK 

DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE  &  COMPANY 
1920 


COPYRIGHT,   1920,  BY 

DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE  &  COMPANY 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED,  INCLUDING  THAT  OF  TRANSLATION 

INTO  FOREIGN  LANGUAGES,  INCLUDING  THE  SCANDINAVIAN 


DEDICATED 

TG 

MABEL  CORNELIA  MOULTON  CHAPMAN 


When  worthless  grandeur  fills  the  embellished  urn. 
No  poignant  grief  attends  the  sable  bier; 
But  when  distinguished  excellence  we  mourn, 
Deep  is  the  sorrow,  genuine  the  tear. 

—Old  Epitaph. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Introduction xi 

I.  Lineage 3 

11.  Environment 13 

III.  College  and  Seminary 25 

IV.  The  Whitewater  and  the  Hudson  .     .  38 
V.  Philadelphia  and  New  York      ...  61 

VI.  A  Retrospect 77 

VII.  Summer  Conferences 96 

VIII.  The  Choral  Coefficient 109 

IX.  Evangelism 120 

X.  On  the  Way  to  Australia     ....  136 

XL  Under  the  Southern  Cross   ....  146 

XII.  The  Orient 174 

XIII.  Nineteen  Hundred  and  Ten  ....  205 

XIV.  At  Home  and  Abroad 218 

XV.  Australasia 237 

XVI.  Scotland 258 

XVII.  In  Perilous  Times 273 

XVIII.  Climax  and  Close 292 

XIX.  Personality 310 


INTRODUCTION 

For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  Dr.  J.  Wilbur 
Chapman  was  a  potent  presence  and  a  formative  force  in 
the  councils  and  activities  of  the  evangelical  church. 

He  was  conspicuous,  not  as  one  who  sought  preferment  or 
place,  but  as  one  who,  "for  Christ's  sake  and  the  Gospel's," 
gave  himself  to  the  service  of  his  fellowmen.  He  was  great 
among  us  in  that  he  was  the  servant  of  all. 

Though  he  was  unique  there  was  no  singularity  in  his 
person  or  his  ministry.  He  had  no  eccentricities  of  manner 
or  of  speech,  nor  did  he  need  such  aids.  He  was  heard,  and 
heard  gladly,  in  all  parts  of  the  world  because  of  an  under- 
tone of  reality,  a  ring  of  certainty,  a  note  of  conviction:  all 
of  which  were  constant  in  his  personality  and  directed  his 
simple  yet  cogent  and  sinewy  speech. 

Throughout  his  ministry  Dr.  Chapman  maintained  a  high 
conception  of  his  office.  This  he  magnified  and  was  himself 
thereby  enlarged.  A  man  among  men,  he  was  genial, 
jovial,  ready  of  wit;  yet  ever  and  everywhere  a  minister 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Although  clericalism  was  to  him  an  abomi- 
nation he  was  always  the  clergyman. 

As  an  ambassador  of  Christ  he  was  loyal  to  the  commis- 
sion and  the  message  he  received.  He  faithfully  delivered 
his  message,  and  his  ministry  was  therefore  effective  and 
fruitful. 

The  cardinal  truths  he  believed  and  defended  were  the 
Divine  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  the  Deity  of  Jesus 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

Christ,  the  Personality  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Primacy  of 
the  Atonement,  and  the  Return  of  our  Lord. 

Love  for  Christ  was  his  ruling  passion,  the  evangel  of 
Christ  was  his  message:  in  the  Hfe  he  lived,  in  the  ser- 
mons he  preached,  in  the  books  he  wrote,  in  the  songs  he 
composed. 

He  was  a  preacher  to  preachers.  There  are  ministers  in 
all  lands  who,  but  for  his  compelling  touch,  would  not  be 
preaching  to-day,  and  innumerable  others  who,  because  of 
their  contact  with  him,  are  preaching  with  greater  power. 
He  had  a  passion  for  souls,  but  he  had  also  a  passion  for  soul 
winners.  Great  were  the  evangelistic  meetings  that  he 
conducted,  but  equally  great  were  the  conferences  that  he 
held  for  ministers.  In  these  conferences  ministers  of  Jesus 
Christ  were  bom  anew  to  a  higher  ideal,  to  a  finer  consecra- 
tion, to  a  more  spiritual  ministry. 

It  is  eminently  fitting  that  the  story  of  his  eventful  life 
should  be  written,  not  for  his  sake,  not  to  magnify  one  who 
has  passed  beyond  the  reach  or  need  of  man's  praise,  but 
for  our  sakes  who  live,  that  the  image  of  the  man  may  be 
impressed  upon  us,  and  that  the  inspiration  of  his  life-work 
may  summon  us  to  nobler  service. 

There  are  many  who  might  have  written  his  life  as  it  was 
seen  and  known  in  its  public  phases.  Important  and  sug- 
gestive as  these  aspects  were,  such  an  account  would  be  but 
fractional.  The  hidden  values  would  be  absent  from  the 
reckoning. 

The  fine  parts  of  Dr.  Chapman's  life  were  invisible — his 
dreams  and  ideals,  his  spiritual  aspirations,  his  far-flung 
vision,  his  broad  plans;  all  that  the  ministry  of  light  and 
shadow,  of  gladness  and  tears,  of  losses  and  gains,  had 
wrought  in  the  evolution  of  his  character:  these  were  the 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

man,  and  except  his  biographer  had  knowledge  of  them  he 
could  not  tell  the  whole  story. 

To  write  his  life  none  among  his  friends  was  so  well  quali- 
fied as  Dr.  Ottman.  He  knew  Dr.  Chapman  as  few  men 
knew  him.  He  knew  his  inmost  life,  and  by  him  was  loved 
and  trusted.  In  all  his  ministry  Dr.  Ottman  was  his  con- 
fidant, his  companion  in  the  home  and  on  his  world  jour- 
neys, his  friend  and  counsellor,  a  sharer  of  his  joys  and 
sorrows.  Such  intimacy  supplies  a  biographer  with  mate- 
rials for  a  sympathetic  and  revealing  interpretation. 

I  have  read  the  manuscript  of  this  volume.  Its  literary 
style  is  chaste  and  elevated.  Its  wealth  of  historic  reference 
is  instructive.  Its  survey  of  world  conditions  during  the 
period  covered  is  most  discriminating.  Its  delineation  of 
the  character  and  its  estimate  of  the  services  of  Dr.  Chap- 
man are  accurate,  appreciative,  and  compelling. 

What  Boswell  did  for  Johnson  and  Francis  Wilson  did  for 
Joseph  Jefferson,  Ford  C.  Ottman  has  done  for  J.  Wilbur 
Chapman. 

In  these  times,  when  the  call  to  the  ministry  is  so  urgent, 
I  wish  that  this  book  might  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  all  the 
young  men  in  our  colleges  and  theological  seminaries.  As 
the  story  of  Brainerd  inspired  Henry  Martyn,  a  student 
of  Cambridge,  and  made  him  a  missionary,  so  should  this 
story  of  Chapman  inspire  young  men  and  lead  them  into 
the  holy  ministry  of  the  Gospel. 

John  F.  Carson. 


J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN 
A  BIOGRAPHY 


J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN 

A  BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  I 

LINEAGE 

Through  heredity  our  ancestors  may  enrich  or  im- 
poverish us,  but  the  law  of  heredity  defies  uniformity  and 
fails  to  account  for  endless  variations. 

Out  of  common  clay  all  men  are  formed:  some  to  be 
vessels  of  honour;  others  to  be  vessels  of  dishonour.  We 
cannot  appreciate  the  worth  of  the  one  or  apprehend  the 
use  of  the  other  without  consideration  of  the  mystic  force 
that  moulds  the  clay  into  the  form  it  takes.  The  ethics 
of  the  spirit  are  not  less  mysterious  than  the  ethics  of 
the  dust. 

Ruskin  has  disclosed  the  weird  potentialities  in  the  mud 
we  trample  under  foot.  But  by  whom  or  by  what  is  this 
potentiality  controlled  and  evolved?  By  whose  ingenuity 
may  the  atoms  of  this  mud  be  separated  and  then  combined 
into  the  sapphire,  the  diamond,  and  the  ruby  set  in  a  star  of 
snow? 

Organic  chemistry  may  be  defined  as  the  chemistry  of  the 
carbon  compounds.  But  who  frames  and  executes  the  law 
that  determines  whether  the  carbon  compound  shall  be  a 
bit  of  graphite  or  a  gem  for  a  royal  coronet? 


4        J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Equally  arresting  are  the  questions  relative  to  the  evolu- 
tionary forces  of  the  spirit. 

Biography,  the  writing  of  a  life,  means  more  than  a 
superficial  survey  of  a  field.  It  involves  the  sending  of 
thought-shafts,  where  no  eye  can  penetrate,  deep  down  into 
intellectual  processes,  into  dominating  emotional  forces, 
far  aloft  into  the  celestial  realms  of  spirit  guidance,  back- 
ward in  perhaps  a  futile  search  for  natural  causes,  and  on- 
ward thence  to  discern  the  index  finger  of  God  pointing  the 
way  over  which  the  feet  are  to  travel. 

The  study  of  a  genealogical  table,  however  alluring,  is 
freighted  with  dangerous  possibilities.  Blue  blood,  like  the 
more  common  kind,  has  its  disturbing  whirlpools.  Yet  all 
of  us  are  more  or  less  curious  to  learn  something  of  our 
lineage.  We  ponder  over  the  hieroglyphics  of  old  tomb- 
stones and  we  dig  into  the  musty  records  of  past  genera- 
tions in  the  illusive  hope  that,  somewhere  along  the  line,  we 
may  discover  a  distinguished  ancestor  to  whom,  if  we  are 
not  quite  willing  to  credit  our  fame,  we  may  charge  our 
folly. 

Moody  used  to  tell  of  a  man  who,  in  tracing  the  line  of  his 
ancestry,  ran  up  against  a  horse  thief,  which  discouraged  all 
further  research.  Yet  even  such  a  man  might  have  de- 
rived comfort  from  the  suggestion  once  made  by  Spurgeon 
that,  were  the  best  of  us  willing  to  go  back  far  enough,  we 
should  find  our  common  ancestor  to  have  been  a  gardener 
under  indictment  for  stealing  his  Master's  fruit. 

Genealogical  trees  with  trunks  "gnarled  and  twisted  into 
myriad  strange  forms"  mark  the  channels  through  which 
the  blood  of  human  nature  pours.  But  mere  blood, 
patrician  or  plebeian,  is  neither  guaranty  of  greatness  nor 
antecedent  of  littleness.    The  scion  of  royalty  is  often 


LINEAGE  5 

degenerate,  and  out  of  obscurity  may  emerge  distinguished 
nobility. 

In  tracing  the  lineage  of  him  of  whom  this  book  is  to 
speak  we  enter  in  and  pass  through  the  lordly  council  halls 
of  a  life  rarely  endowed  and  crowned  with  world-encircling 
accomplishments. 

The  Bible  tells  us  of  ''a  man  sent  from  God,  whose  name 
was  John.''  It  is  the  terse  delineation  of  one  destined  to  be 
the  forerunner  of  Another  greater  than  himself.  Without 
irreverence,  but  with  a  similar  suggestion,  we  may  say, 
''there  was  a  man  sent  from  God,  whose  name  was  John" — 
the  first  of  the  Chapman  lineage  to  set  foot  on  American 
shores. 

Joane,  the  mother  of  that  same  John,  was  a  grand- 
daughter of  Roger  and  Joane  Sumner,  who  lived  in  Ox- 
fordshire, England,  about  the  year  1578.  In  the  sixth 
generation  there  was  born  of  this  lineatRoxbury,  Massachu- 
setts, on  the  twenty-seventh  of  November,  1745,  Increase 
Sumner,  who  became  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts. 
The  genealogical  record  of  the  Sumners  enrolls  other  great 
and  illustrious  names:  Edwin  Vose  Sumner,  Major- 
General  in  the  United  States  Volunteers,  who  turned  the 
tide  against  the  Confederates  at  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines; 
Charles  Sumner,  the  distinguished  United  States  Senator 
from  Massachusetts;  John  Bird  Sumner,  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  Primate  of  all  England;  Charles  Richard 
Sumner,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester.  Such  are  the  names 
that  bear  witness  to  the  richness  of  the  blood  that  flowed  in 
the  veins  of  Joane,  the  mother  of  John  Chapman. 

John  was  a  Saxon  as  the  name  Chapman  implies.  The 
word  means — so  it  is  said — a  peddler.  But  Bardsley,  in  his 
book  on  "English  Surnames,"  published  by  the  Hutton 


6        J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Company,  London,  1873,  will  not  permit  of  so  summary  a 
definition.  As  if  defending  the  name  against  such  aspersion, 
he  says:  "The  Chapman,  I  will  have  you  know,  was  a 
great  man.  He  was  not  a  hawker  or  peddler  but  had  a 
fixed  residence  and  a  shop  (a  store,  doubtless  a  department 
store)  and  if  ever  he  took  to  the  road  he  drove  double  or 
even  four-in-hand." 

John  Chapman,  it  may  be  inferred  from  the  character  of 
his  mother,  was  not  without  such  education  as  his  times 
made  possible. 

Oxford  had  already  discovered  her  great  need  of  Rugby, 
and  Rugby  was  crippled  for  lack  of  the  free  district 
school.  But  the  Motherland  had  not  yet  awakened  to  the 
insistent  call  for  a  Common  School  System,  although  her 
delectable  daughter  Priscilla,  across  the  ocean,  had  already 
blazed  the  trail,  building  in  the  American  forest,  first  the 
Church  and  next  to  it  the  free  school,  even  before  she  had 
laid  the  footing-stones  for  her  own  habitation. 

But  John  was  by  no  means  untaught.  His  parents  knew 
something,  perhaps  considerable,  of  books,  and  the  parish 
curate,  as  appears  to  have  been  the  custom,  was  doubtless 
the  schoolmaster.  Such  was  the  early  training,  and  then, 
constrained  by  the  frugality  of  those  days,  John  at  the  age 
of  fourteen  was  "bound  out"  for  seven  years  of  apprentice- 
ship to  learn  the  art  of  weaving. 

When  this  time  of  servitude  had  run  its  monotonous 
course,  and  John  was  free,  the  lure  of  London,  the  Mecca 
of  all  English  boys,  drew  him  with  its  multiple  enchant- 
ments. 

The  road  over  which  he  travelled  entered  the  city  at  the 
Paddington  Gate.  Paddington  was  not  then  the  great 
railway  terminal  it  is  to-day.    It  was,  however,  the  centre 


LINEAGE  7 

where  the  post-boys  changed  horses  for  the  last  lap  down  to 
the  general  office  on  the  Strand. 

John,  so  it  is  stated,  slept  the  first  night  at  "The  Blue 
Owl" — the  little  hostelry  to  which  Chaucer  has  given 
fame — and  where  later,  once  at  least,  "the  great  Johnson 
sat  with  Goldsmith,  and  together  they  cracked  wits  over 
their  pipes  and  beer." 

Of  the  length  of  time  John  remained  in  London  we  have 
no  record,  nor  of  the  events  of  his  stay  any  chronicle;  but 
the  direction  of  his  life  takes  a  determinative  turn  when 
next  we  hear  of  him  strolling  in  Epping  Forest.  Perhaps 
wearied  with  the  sights  and  sounds  of  the  city  he  sought  the 
forest  solitude  to  think  out  for  himself  the  course  of  his 
career.  Epping  Forest  was  not  unlike  Sherwood,  where 
Robin  Hood  and  his  merry  outlaws  lived  in  the  realm  of  the 
greenwood  and  the  fat  and  jolly  Friar  Tuck  took  tribute 
from  his  more  opulent  brethren. 

In  such  romantic  haunts,  with  "giant  oaks  and  silvery 
birches,  a  realm  prodigal  of  trees,  o'er-canopied  with  green 
leaves  until  the  sun  had  ado  to  send  his  rays  down,  carpeted 
with  brown  moss  and  emerald  grasses,  thicketed  with  a  rich 
undergrowth  of  bryony  and  clematis,  prickly  holly  and 
golden  furz,  and  a  host  of  minor  shrubs,"  aimlessly  wan- 
dered the  English  boy,  dreaming  of  his  future,  little  antici- 
pating the  violent  twist  about  to  be  given  to  any  pre- 
conceived plan  of  his  own.  Suddenly,  against  his  will, 
every  purpose  thwarted,  every  tie  broken,  he  was  by  force 
arrested  and  borne  on  and  on  for  many  years,  an  exile,  to 
return  to  England  nevermore. 

In  a  word  he  was  kidnapped,  carried  to  a  man-of-war,  and 
impressed  into  service,  to  go  forth  not  knowing  whither  he 
went. 


8        J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

But  God  knew,  and  John  Chapman  was  borne  whither 
God  had  planned,  and  where,  again  with  no  consent  of  man, 
he  should  become  the  first  of  his  line  in  America  and  the 
progenitor  of  him  concerning  whom  these  pages  are  written. 

What  the  experiences  were  of  John  Chapman  while  under 
enforced  service  to  the  English  Government  we  have  no 
means  of  determining.  We  know  that  he  lived  during  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne — *'The  Augustan  Age  of  English 
Literature"— so  called  because  of  the  eminent  literary 
men  whom  the  Queen  gathered  about  her  and  whose 
ability  she  encouraged.  The  great  military  leader  of  her 
reign  was  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  husband  of  the  im- 
perious Duchess  for  whom  the  Queen  had  so  deep  and 
romantic  an  attachment. 

Anne  had  ascended  the  throne  on  the  very  day  on  which 
the  Triple  Alliance  between  England,  Holland,  and  the 
German  Empire  against  France  had  been  renewed.  Louis 
XIV  had  from  the  beginning  favoured  the  claims  of  the 
Pretender  and  in  various  other  ways  he  had  given  offence  to 
the  English,  resulting  at  last  in  a  declaration  of  war  against 
France.  The  war  lasted  eleven  years  and  involved  the 
French  and  English  colonies  in  America. 

In  June,  1707,  a  large  body  of  men  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Marsh  sailed  from  Nantucket  for  Port  Royal, 
Acadia,  convoyed  by  an  English  man-of-war,  and  later  on 
we  read  of  ships  and  troops  leaving  Boston  accompanied  by 
a  fleet  from  England  with  troops  under  Colonel  Nicholson. 
John  Chapman  had  undoubtedly  come  into  Boston  Harbour 
on  one  of  these  English  men-of-war. 

A  little  more  than  a  century  before,  John  Alden,  a  cooper 
in  Southampton,  was  doing  some  repair  work  on  the 
never-to-be-forgotten  Mayflower,  and  by  some  influence  he 


LINEAGE  9 

was  led  to  join  the  company  of  Pilgrims  that  sailed  for 
Plymouth  Rock.  He  settled  in  Duxbury,  and  in  1621,  to 
the  great  distress — it  may  be  inferred — of  Miles  Standish, 
he  was  married  to  Priscilla  Mullins.  For  more  than  half  a 
century  he  was  one  of  the  magistrates  of  the  colony,  and  he 
outlived  all  the  signers  of  the  Mayflower  compact.  A 
grandson  of  this  John  Alden,  Captain  Samuel,  a  few  years 
younger  than  John  Chapman,  was  living  at  Duxbury  when 
the  English  fleet  sailed  up  the  channel  between  Hull  and 
the  Lx)wer  Light  and  came  to  anchor  where  the  Charles  and 
the  Mystic  unite  their  tides.  Captain  Samuel  Alden  in 
some  manner  became  acquainted  with  John  Chapman  and 
heard  from  his  own  lips  the  story  of  his  impressment  into 
the  English  service.  The  Captain  still  lived  in  the  old 
home  at  Duxbury  where,  highly  esteemed  by  his  neighbours, 
he  held  a  position  of  trust  in  the  town.  Through  his 
influence  or  by  his  help — just  how  we  are  not  told — ^John 
Chapman  managed  to  make  his  escape  from  the  English 
troopship  and,  cleverly  eluding  an  attempt  to  recapture 
him,  fled  to  North  Stonington,  Connecticut. 

Weaving  was  in  demand  in  the  new  as  well  as  in  the 
old  England,  and  with  it  John,  having  been  qualified  by 
his  apprenticeship,  soon  became  fully  occupied.  Mani- 
festly and  for  obvious  reasons  he  lived  a  quiet  and  retired 
life.  There  is  a  brief  suggestion  of  his  having  drifted  east- 
ward to  Wakefield,  Rhode  Island;  but  about  1708  we  find 
him  busy  with  his  loom  at  North  Stonington  and  there,  on 
the  sixteenth  of  February,  1710,  he  was  married  to  Sarah 
Brown.  He  remained  in  Stonington  for  the  rest  of  his 
life,  dying  there  in  1760  being — as  the  record  reads — "over 
80  years  of  age." 

The  names  of  the  descendants  of  John  Chapman,  to  the 


10      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

end  of  the  third  generation,  with  the  methodical  precision 
of  the  custom  of  the  Puritans,  were  written  and  are  now  to 
be  found  in  the  official  records  of  North  Stonington, 
Connecticut. 

In  the  first  generation  we  find  the  names:  Sarah, 
Jonah,  John,  William,  Andrew,  Thomas,  Sumner,  and 
Eunice. 

Doubtless  in  memory  of  John's  mother,  and  in  recognition 
of  her  illustrious  ancestry,  the  seventh  child  was  called 
Sumner.  The  other  Bible  names  show  the  Puritan  spirit 
that  governed  their  selection. 

Andrew,  the  fifth  child,  was  bom  at  North  Stonington, 
March  third,  1719.  He  was  married  to  Hannah,  the 
daughter  of  Benoni  Smith,  the  year  1746. 

To  them  ten  children  were  bom  and  to  each  was  given  a 
name  taken  from  the  Bible:  Andrew,  Joseph,  Ruth, 
Hannah,  Andrew  2nd,  Nahum,  Nathan,  Amos,  Sarah,  and 
Jonas.  ,     * 

Andrew,  the  first  bom,  died  in  his  fourth  year  and  in  his 
memory  Andrew  the  second  was  named. 

The  eighth  child,  Amos,  was  among  the  early  pioneers 
from  New  England. 

The  first  white  settlement  was  made  in  Ohio  at  Marietta. 
These  settlers  came  mostly  from  New  England,  and  among 
them  were  veterans  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

In  1787  Congress  had  made  provision  for  such  settlement, 
and  General  Arthur  St.  Clair  had  been  sent  out  as  govemor. 
His  humiliating  defeat  by  the  Indians  evoked  the  wrath  of 
Washington  who  recalled  him  and  sent  the  brave  and  daring 
Anthony  Wayne  to  retrieve  the  disaster.  By  him  the 
Indians  were  routed  at  a  battle  on  the  Maumee,  not  far 
from  the  present  site  of  Toledo. 


LINEAGE  11 

In  1795  the  treaty  of  Greenville  was  signed  and  all 
northern  Ohio  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  and  was  soon 
thickly  settled  by  a  tide  of  immigrants  flowing  in  from  New 
England. 

In  1816  Indiana  was  admitted  to  the  Union  and,  during 
the  six  years  preceding,  the  population  of  Ohio  had  grown 
from  two  hundred  thousand  to  four  hundred  thousand; 
while  that  of  Indiana  had  increased  threefold. 

Northern  Indiana  is  doubtless  the  moraine  of  a  sometime 
glacier  that  piled  up,  north  of  the  Wabash,  with  deposit  of 
clay,  gravel,  and  boulders,  which  characterize  that  half  of 
the  state.  Southern  Indiana  is  altogether  different.  The 
Wabash,  famed  in  song  and  story,  navigable  for  three 
hundred  miles,  crosses  the  state  midway  of  its  latitude  and 
then,  with  a  sharp  turn  southward,  constitutes  its  western 
boundary  with  Illinois  and,  in  conjunction  with  the  Ohio, 
throws  southern  Indiana  into  a  great  peninsula.  Here, 
through  uncounted  centuries,  a  forest  vast  and  undisturbed 
had  endowed  the  soil  with  a  depth  and  richness  surpassed  by 
no  garden  spot  on  earth.  The  Whitewater  Valley  was  and 
is  yet  an  area  of  most  delightsome  fertility  and  verdure. 

But  more  significant  even  than  the  physical  aspect  of 
these  fair  forest  glades  is  the  character  of  the  people  that 
flowed  in  to  take  possession  of  them. 

In  Boston  the  Ohio  Company  had  been  organized,  and  to 
it  there  had  been  made  a  grant  of  one  and  one  half  million 
acres.  Immediately  the  great  northern  watershed  into 
Lake  Erie,  as  well  as  southern  Michigan,  became  the 
centres  of  teeming  populations.  The  great  tide  of  im- 
migration flowed  around  the  Whitewater  Valley  but  not 
into  it.  Only  very  quietly,  man  by  man,  and  family  by 
family,  this  garden  spot  of  the  state  came  to  be  occupied. 


12       J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Gradually  but  persistently  the  cornfields  and  orchards 
of  the  husbandmen  emerged  from  the  falling  forests  of  the 
pioneer.  While  these  forests  were  tumbling,  to  be  turned 
into  bridges  and  town  halls  and  schools  and  homes,  there 
came  among  the  pioneers  Amos  Chapman,  who  had  met 
and  married  Elizabeth  Cox  and  afterward  settled  in  Wayne 
County,  Indiana. 

To  them  were  bom  nine  children :  Amos,  Mary,  Sidney, 
Rosann,  Nancy  Fewell,  Joseph  Fewell,  Betsey  Ann,  John, 
and  Ellis. 

Amos  Chapman,  the  fu*st  born,  became  a  physician  and 
on  December  seventh,  1820,  married  Anna  Gamer,  who 
was  born  May  tenth,  1799,  and  died  in  1835. 

To  them  were  born  six  children:  Elizabeth,  Mary, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  Ann,  Matilda,  and  Garner. 

Alexander  Hamilton,  the  third  child,  was  born  in  Browns- 
ville, Indiana,  August  twenty-sixth,  1826.  With  his 
father  he  studied  medicine,  but  never  followed  the  pro- 
fession. He  lived  successively  in  Brownsville,  Alquina, 
Richmond,  Knightstown,  Richmond  (all  in  Indiana),  West 
Florence,  Ohio,  and  again  and  finally  in  Richmond,  Indiana. 
He  was  married  at  Westville,  Ohio,  to  Lorinda,  daughter  of 
James  and  Mary  Bell  McWhinney. 

To  them  six  children  were  bom :  Ida  Lorinda,  J.  Wilbur, 
Edwin  Garner,  Anna  Mary,  Jessie  Luella,  Charles  Rachford. 

Both  parents  died  in  Richmond:  the  mother  October 
twenty-ninth,  1872;  and  the  father,  March  sixteenth,  1878. 


CHAPTER  II 

ENVIRONMENT 

J.  Wilbur  Chapman  was  bom  in  Richmond,  Indiana,  on 
Friday,  June  seventeenth,  1859. 

The  natural  environment  of  Richmond,  his  home  Hfe,  his 
boyhood  associates  and  activities,  the  church,  the  school, 
the  very  atmosphere,  surcharged  with  elements  that  were  to 
break  into  flames  of  civil  war — all  these  made  their  con- 
tribution to  the  moulding  of  his  character. 

In  1804  two  men  from  Kentucky,  Judge  Peter  Fleming 
and  Joseph  Wasson,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  discovered 
the  Whitewater  Valley  and  made  the  first  entry  of  land  near 
the  line  that  divided  Ohio  from  what  was  then  known  as  the 
Indian  Territory. 

Prior  to  that  time  no  white  man  had  ventured  to  invade 
the  forest  of  the  Whitewater  Valley  where  the  wild  beast  and 
the  Indian  roamed  unmolested  except  when  at  war  with  one 
another. 

For  nearly  a  century  a  divine  palladium  had  turned 
aside  the  swirling  waves,  one  after  another,  of  alien  im- 
migration, to  reserve  the  cathedral  forest  aisles  for 
Puritan  and  Quaker,  the  latter,  as  a  guerdon  for  their 
meekness,  taking  possession  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
inheritance. 

In  1806  David  Hoover,  with  some  companions,  left  his 
father's  house  on  the  Miami  and,  having  passed  the  Ken- 
tucky settlement  on  the  Whitewater,  explored  the  west 

13 


14      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

bank  of  the  Middle  Fork  to  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  the 
present  site  of  Richmond. 

They  returned  home,  declaring  that  they  had  found 
gushing  springs  of  cold  water,  future  mill-seats,  limestone 
and  gravel  quarries  and,  in  fact — ''the  promised  land." 

Upon  this  favourable  report  the  Hoover  family,  the  same 
year,  1806,  moved  up  to  the  Middle  Fork  and  took  posses- 
sion of  several  hundred  acres  of  choice  land. 

Judge  Hoover  belonged  to  the  Society  of  Friends  and  he 
delighted  to  call  himself  a  John  the  Baptist  of  that  sect 
which  settled  and  fixed  its  indelible  impress  upon  Rich- 
mond. 

This  same  Judge  Hoover  was  the  ancestor — so  it  is  by 
some  supposed — of  the  modem  Joseph  destined  to  control 
the  granaries  of  the  world  during  a  famine  more  devastating 
than  the  one  that  swept  over  and  desolated  Egypt. 

For  ten  years  the  town  was  called  Smithville,  after  John 
Smith,  one  of  the  first  settlers. 

When  the  townsite  was  laid  out,  and  lots  began  to  be  sold, 
the  townspeople  objected  to  the  plebeian  ''Smithville." 
The  question  was  referred  to  Thomas  Roberts,  James  Regg, 
and  David  Hoover. 

Roberts  suggested  Waterford,  Reggs  liked  Plainfield, 
Hoover  proposed  Richmond.  Hoover's  preference  was 
adopted  and  Smithville  was  discarded  for  Richmond. 

Timothy  Nicholson,  now  more  than  ninety  years  of  age 
and  living  in  Richmond,  states  that: 

Friends,  chiefly  from  North  and  South  Carolina,  were  the  first 
settlers  in  Richmond  in  1806,  and  for  several  years  they  constituted 
much  the  larger  part  of  the  citizens,  and  even  now  Richmond  is  often 
called  "The  Quaker  City  of  the  West,"  as  Philadelphia  is  termed 
*♦  The  Quaker  City." 


'  ENVIRONMENT  15 

Richmond  now  has  a  population  of  more  than  thirty 
thousand,  an  area  of  more  than  three  thousand  acres,  one 
tenth  of  which  is  devoted  to  public  parks. 

During  the  first  half  century  of  the  settlement  public 
libraries  multiplied  throughout  the  Whitewater  district  and 
many  homes  were  possessed  of  collections  of  standard  and 
high-class  literature. 

The  Lyceum  became  popular,  and  posted  courses  of 
lectures  by  such  gifted  men  as  Edward  Everett,  Bayard 
Taylor,  George  William  Cm-tis,  Doctor  Hall,  Wendell 
Phillips,  and  Park  Benjamin.  Concerts  were  also  given  by 
Ole  Bull  and  Annie  Louise  Carey. 

This  tranquil  region  gave  to  the  state  four  governors: 
Wallace,  Noble,  Ray,  and  the  great  war  Governor,  Oliver 
Perry  Morton,  afterward  U.  S.  Senator. 

General  Lew  Wallace,  brevetted  on  the  field  after  the 
capture  of  Ft.  Donaldson,  and  subsequently  author  of  "Ben 
Hur'';  Dr.  Edward  Eggleston;  James  Whitcomb  Riley; 
William  M.  Chase,  America's  great  portrait  painter; 
Eads,  who  engineered  the  building  of  the  St.  Louis  Bridge 
and  the  Mississippi  Jetty;  Honourable  George  W.  Julian, 
member  of  Congress:  all  were  Whitewater  boys. 

But  of  those  bom  in  the  Whitewater  district  there  is  none 
nobler,  none  worthy  of  more  enduring  fame  than  he  who  for 
Christ's  sake  lost  his  life,  to  find  it  again  multiplied  by  the 
number  redeemed  through  his  ministry. 

In  his  letter  Mr.  Nicholson  writes: 

Dear  Friend: 

In  response  to  thy  request  I  may  say,  in  1870,  I  purchased  the 
property  No.  132  South  Ninth  Street,  Richmond. 

Alexander  Chapman  and  family  lived  in  a  plain  two-story  brick 
house,  No.  124,  north  of  us,  there  being  only  a  small  brick  cottage 
between  us. 


16      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

I  had  not  previously  been  acquainted  with  Alexander  Chapman. 
At  that  time  Wilbur  was  engaged  in  selling  milk,  delivering  it  to 
customers  from  his  wagon. 

Peddling  milk  at  eleven  years  of  age!  Yes,  and  selling 
newspapers,  and  working  for  a  confectioner,  and  keeping 
books,  and  doing  all  kinds  of  work  to  earn  a  little  some- 
thing that  he  might  relieve  the  strain  upon  his  father,  and  to 
speak  of  it  often  thereafter  in  public  addresses  for  the  en- 
couragement of  boys  that  were  passing  through  a  similar 
struggle! 

Yet  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  his  home  was  one  of 
poverty.    It  was  quite  the  contrary. 

Charles  White,  who  recently  died,  was  an  intimate  boy- 
hood friend  of  Wilbur  and  has  left  this  record: 

I  have  seen  statements  about  Dr.  Chapman's  early  life  that 
would  lead  one  to  believe  that  his  parents  were  very  poor.  This  is  not 
correct.  There  was  indeed  the  brief  period  of  disappointment  and 
struggle;  but  Mr.  A.  H.  Chapman  always  maintained  income  and  the 
family  lived  very  comfortably,  and  abundantly  supplied. 

After  a  few  rapid  changes  this  vocation  finally  assumed  the  form  of 
the  Insurance  Adjustor,  an  office  never  accorded  except  to  men  of  the 
highest  intelligence  and  integrity.  In  opulence  or  stress  the  family 
enjoyed  the  most  cordial  social  standing  in  the  best  homes  in  Rich- 
mond. 

Mr.  White  refers  also  to  the  "milk  business"  in  a 
way  that  implies  less  of  hardship  than  might  have  been 
supposed: 

He  never  "peddled  milk  on  a  cart "  as  has  been  said.  For  about 
a  year  he  lived  at  "  The  Greenway  Dairy" — just  south  of  Richmond, 
one  of  those  model  Whitewater  farms,  the  pride  of  the  county,  as  a 
member  of  the  Pyle  family  who  conducted  it.  They  were  expert 
horsemen  and  their  stud  always  embraced  driving  and  saddle  horses  of 
superior  merit.  Wilbur  did  dehver  milk  for  them  but  behind  as  fine 
coach  horses  as  any  high  stepper  that  ever  crossed  Fifth  Avenue. 


ENVIRONMENT  17 

Dr.  Chapman  from  imperishable  memories  has  drawn  for 
us  a  picture  of  his  boyhood  home: 

My  own  experience  in  connection  with  my  early  home  was  unique. 
My  father  was  in  more  than  comfortable  circumstances;  and  the 
earliest  memory  of  my  boyhood  is  associated  with  the  comforts  that  in 
those  days  would  be  considered  wealth,  but  in  the  light  of  the  vast 
fortunes  which  men  are  able  to  acquire  to-day,  it  would  be  looked  upon 
as  little  more  than  a  fair  competency. 

I  think  that  for  myself,  at  least,  it  was  the  good  Providence  of  God 
which  changed  the  fortunes  of  my  father,  and  compelled  me  to  ex- 
perience what  was  certainly  discomfort  and,  I  might  almost  say,  the 
hardship  of  life. 

By  one  of  those  reverses  of  fortune,  so  often  experienced  in  Ameri- 
can business  life,  my  father's  property  was  swept  away;  and  I  can  to 
this  day  recall  how  the  location  of  our  home  was  changed  from  one 
part  of  the  city  to  another,  and  the  house  in  which  we  dwelt,  instead 
of  being  commodious,  was  extremely  small. 

I  have  always  felt  that  by  this  experience  my  ministry  has  been 
enriched;  and  when  I  have  preached  to  others  concerning  the  dis- 
appointments of  life,  I  have  remembered  the  pained  expression  of  my 
father's  countenance  when  he  realized  that  his  wife  and  children  must 
battle  more  strenuously,  and  bear  heavier  burdens  than  he  had  ever 
meant  them  to  bear. 

I  also  recall  how  my  mother,  with  her  naturally  sunny  disposition, 
greeted  reverses  with  a  smile  and  filled  the  rooms  of  our  smaller  home 
with  the  music  of  the  hymns  she  sang. 

I  have  a  most  beautiful  memory  of  family  worship;  of  the  Sunday 
afternoons  when  as  a  household  we  read  God's  Word  together  and 
sang  the  hymns  of  the  church;  and  the  influence  which  has  been 
exerted  on  my  life  by  this  memory  has  been  very  great. 

My  mother  died  when  I  was  little  more  than  a  child,  and  my  father 
soon  after  was  called  Home,  but  as  I  look  back  on  my  boyhood  trials, 
I  can  see  how  God  used  them  to  help  me  on. 

I  can  see  my  mother  sitting  one  day  at  the  window,  her  work  in  her 
hands,  and  her  children  playing  at  her  knees,  when,  dropping  the  work 
which  was  occupying  her  mind,  and  folding  her  hands,  with  upturned 
face,  she  began  to  sing  softly — 

"Come  thou  fount  of  every  blessing, 
Tune  my  heart  to  sing  thy  praise." 


18      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

In  after  years  I  heard  Patti  sing.  I  stood  one  whole  night  waiting 
in  line  to  buy  a  ticket  which  would  admit  me  to  the  great  music  hall  in 
Cincinnati  where  this  queen  of  singers  was  to  render  her  part  of  the 
Oratorio  of  the  Messiah;  but  Patti  made  no  such  impression  upon  me 
as  was  made  by  my  mother. 

My  mother  went  home  to  God  when  she  was  little  more  than  a  girl; 
but  I  can  still  feel  her  kiss  upon  my  cheek,  and  in  memory  I  often  hear 
the  words  of  counsel  she  gave  to  me  on  the  last  night  she  spent  on 
earth. 

When  she  was  gone  my  father  had  a  mother's  tenderness  added 
to  a  father's  strength,  and  when  just  in  the  prime  of  life  he  passed  over 
to  the  other  shore,  I  was  left  with  a  memory  which  has  enriched  my 
life  beyond  my  power  to  express.* 

In  this  retrospection  the  lines  are  softened  and  the 
darker  memories  sunk  into  oblivion. 

The  tribute  paid  to  his  parents  shows  how  deep  and 
abiding  were  the  impressions,  and  such  hallowed  memories 
enabled  him  to  portray  with  singular  accuracy  the  beauty 
of  a  Christian  home. 

His  mother  died  on  Tuesday,  October  twenty-ninth, 
1872,  a  little  more  than  thirty-five  years  of  age.  Wilbur 
was  but  four  months  past  his  thirteenth  year.  Only  those 
who  have  had  and  loved  such  mothers  can  sound  the  depth 
of  their  bitter  loss.  Many  a  time,  in  after  years,  his  eyes 
would  fill  when  the  soloist  sang: 

O  mother  when  I  think  of  thee, 
*Tis  but  a  step  to  Calvary, 
Thy  gentle  hand  upon  my  brow 
Is  leading  me  to  Jesus  now. 

Many  a  wild  and  wayward  son  under  such  awakened 
memories  has  returned  to  God. 

Fortunate  indeed  is  the  boy  who,  when  the  mother  is  no 
more,  has  a  sister  that  in  some  measure  can  fill  the  mother's 

*From  the  Preface  of  "When  Home  Is  Heaven,"  published  by  Fleming  H.  Revell 
Company,  New  York. 


ENVIRONMENT  19 

place.  Such  was  Wilbur's  sister  Ida  and  she  but  two  and  a 
half  years  older  than  he. 

"Too  much  credit,"  writes  Charles  White,  "cannot  be 
given  to  this  daughter  and  sister  for  her  unwearied  watch- 
fulness over  the  younger  sister  and  three  brothers.  She 
early  became  the  dependable  housekeeper,  the  motherly 
resort  of  the  children  for  every  childish  wish  or  woe,  the 
adept  and  busy  needlewoman  for  mending  and  patching, 
darning,  and  what  not;  and  a  pastry  cook  forsooth,  who 
transcended  in  skill  any  French  chef  that  ever  wore  a 
white  cap" — and  then,  with  a  touch  of  tenderness,  he 
adds — "she  was  a  dear  and  good  friend  to  her  brother's 
playmates." 

Ida,  with  a  charming  modesty,  cannot  be  allured  into  the 
confession  of  any  merit  accruing  to  herself;  but,  with  all 
spontaneity,  she  delights  to  accord  to  "Willie"  his  constant 
loving,  brotherly  spirit.  Concerning  herself  the  most  she 
could  be  induced  to  say  is  this: 

There  was  only  two  and  one  half  years  difference  in  our  ages,  and 
after  mother  died  we  both  always  tried  to  do  what  we  could  for  one 
another.  We  were  good  chums  always.  He  was  always  very  thought- 
ful and  kind  and  the  best  brother  ever. 

Happy  memories  drifting  down  through  fifty  years! 

To  Ida,  now  Mrs.  W.  H.  Thompson,  and  to  "Eddie"— as 
Wilbur  always  affectionately  called  his  younger  brother — 
we  are  indebted  for  an  account  of  adolescent  activities  that 
define  for  us  a  sturdy,  typical,  all-around  American  boy. 

Once  he  wandered  away  and  was  lost  in  the  forest,  and  a 
searching  party  went  after  him  "with  lanterns  and  horns 
and  bells." 

He  was  a  fine  ball  player,  an  expert  kite  flyer,  and  he  had 
a  consuming  passion  for  "the  old  swimming  hole"  about 


20      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

two  miles  from  home.  ''  Fleecy  Dale  " — so  White  calls  it — 
and  he  adds,  "sometimes  we  would  walk  there,  but  often  we 
would  drive  our  pony  'Bob-tailed  Billy'  and  when  we  did, 
Billy  would  get  his  swim  with  the  rest  of  us." 

Wilbur  began  school  at  seven,  spending  one  year  at  the 
county  school  at  West  Florence  and  then  to  grade  and 
high  school  in  Richmond. 

He  is  described  as  "a  good  scholar,  always  standing  well 
in  his  class,  concentrated  when  he  studied,  learning  lessons 
easily  and  quickly."  One  teacher  wishes  that "  he  had  been 
obliged  to  work  a  little  harder,  for  then  he  would  have  had 
less  time  for  throwing  paper  wads." 

Out  of  school  we  find  him — as  his  name  imports — a 
"shopman"  or  trader.  At  one  time  a  goat  constituted  his 
capital  stock.  When  the  family  could  no  longer  tolerate 
the  goat  he  traded  it  for  a  snare  drum.  When  the  snare 
drum  became  an  insufferable  nuisance  he  traded  that  for  a 
jig-saw.  He  formed  a  partnership  with  White  under  the 
firm  name  of  "Chapman,  White  &  Company."  With  the 
jig-saw  they  made  ornamental  brackets  and  sold  at  profit. 
Wilbur  was  a  genius  in  all  such  devices.  He  whittled  with 
a  jack  knife  a  wall  bracket  with  two  shelves  which  was  ex- 
hibited at  the  County  Fair  and  commended  for  its  beauty 
of  design  and  finish  of  craftsmanship.  All  such  products 
of  the  jig-saw  were  sold  through  a  house-to-house  canvass 
and  at  prices  ranging  from  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  to 
three  dollars  and  fifty  cents  each.  At  one  time  they  took 
an  agency  from  a  Connecticut  printing  firm  and  carried 
around  with  them  samples  of  calling  cards  and  letterheads, 
selling  these  to  the  citizens  and  increasing  their  revenue. 

In  his  earlier  days  there  can  be  found  no  evidence  of  any 
inclination  toward  the  ministry;  and  yet,  curiously  enough, 


ENVIRONMENT  21 

his  sister  Ida  tells  us  that  ''from  the  time  he  was  about  four 
or  five  years  old  he  was  always  playing  church.  He  was 
the  preacher  and  the  rest  of  us  the  congregation.  He  had  a 
chair  for  a  pulpit  and  no  one  was  ever  allowed  to  occupy 
that  place  but  himself." 

When  older,  he  had  some  thought  of  becoming  a  school 
teacher  or  possibly  a  college  professor.  In  this  he  had  his 
father's  approval.  At  that  time  he  also  inclined  toward 
the  ministry,  but  to  this  his  father  was  opposed.  ''No," 
said  he,  "there  are  enough  poor  ministers  now.  The  bar 
and  the  pulpit  are  over  filled.  No  doubt,  as  some  have  said, 
'there  is  room  at  the  top';  but  you,  Wilbur,  would  not  be  a 
success  in  that  high  calling.  You  are  too  full  of  fun  and 
mischief.  If  there  is  a  minister  in  our  family  it  will  be  your 
brother  Ed,  not  you."  Such  decisive  negatives  banished 
from  his  mind,  during  the  remainder  of  his  father's  life,  all 
thought  of  the  ministry.  But  when  the  father  lay  dead  in 
the  house,  and  before  his  funeral,  Wilbur  said  to  Ida, 
"Wouldn't  you  be  a  minister?"  "Yes,"  she  answered, 
"you  have  my  consent,  and  I  am  sure  that  God  has  called 
you." 

In  the  Water  Street  Mission  the  converts  will  testify  to 
the  year,  the  month,  the  day,  and  the  hour,  when  they 
passed  "from  death  into  life." 

But  Dr.  Chapman  was  never  able  to  give  so  definite  a 
record  of  his  conversion.  Brought  up  in  a  Christian  home, 
dedicated  to  God  in  his  infancy,  influenced  by  precept  and 
example,  he  never  knew,  as  many  another,  just  when  or 
where  he  became  a  Christian. 

But  he  did  know — and  spoke  of  it  repeatedly  thereafter — 
when  he  made  his  public  confession  of  faith  in  Christ. 

For  a  long  time  he  attended  the  "Quaker's  First  Day 


22      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

School"  in  the  morning.  Dr.  Mordecai  Fletcher  was  his 
teacher.  In  the  afternoon  he  went  to  the  Grace  Methodist 
Sunday  School.  Here  his  teacher  was  the  wife  of  the  Super- 
intendent of  the  school,  Mr.  C.  C.  Binkley,  a  distinguished 
lawyer  and  State  Senator. 

At  this  writing  Mrs.  Binkley  is  still  living  in  Indianapolis. 
Dr.  F.  W.  Taylor,  a  life-long  friend  of  Dr.  Chapman,  had 
an  interview  with  Mrs.  Binkley,  whom  he  describes  as  "a 
charming  woman,  eighty-two  years  old,  mentally  alert, 
and  filled  with  the  same  enthusiasm  for  Christ  which  she 
manifested  when  she  was  the  teacher  of  Wilbur." 

In  response  to  Dr.  Taylor's  request  for  some  facts  about 
Wilbur  when  in  her  class  Mrs.  Binkley  says: 

Several  years  after  he  became  an  Evangelist  he  conducted  a  meeting 
in  Richmond,  his  early  home,  and  one  Sunday  morning  attended  the 
Love  Feast  of  Grace  M.  E.  Church:  many  persons  when  giving  their 
experience  told  of  their  conversion  at  that  altar,  or  during  meetings 
there.  Doctor  Chapman  said  "  my  first  impulse  to  lead  a  religious  life 
was  given  me  when  a  young  man  through  the  influence  of  Mrs.  Charles 
C.  Binkley,  when  in  her  class  over  in  that  corner."  That  was  the 
first  I  knew  that  such  an  impression  had  been  made  upon  him  while 
in  the  class.  He  did  not  then  give  any  details  of  the  incident,  as  he 
did  repeatedly  afterward.  I  was  not  at  church  that  morning,  but 
heard  of  his  remarks  from  many  who  were  there. 

My  name  has  been  connected  with  Doctor  Chapman's  for  several 
years  because  of  his  oft-repeated  statement  concerning  his  decision  to 
accept  Christ.  I  regret  that  I  do  not  remember  the  incident;  such 
appeals  were  frequently  made  in  the  Sunday  School,  and  as  I  was 
always  pleading  with  the  young  men  to  acknowledge  Christ  I  know 
such  special  personal  urging  was  repeated  many,  many  times,  indeed 
probably  as  often  as  public  appeals  were  made.  But  unfortunately 
there  were  not  many  J.  Wilbur  Chapmans  who  responded. 

During  the  twenty  years  I  had  a  class  of  young  men,  there  were, 
of  course,  many  changes.  I  recall  that  at  one  time  every  member 
belonged  to  families  who  were  affiliated  with  churches  of  other  de- 
nominations than  the  Methodist,  and  while  it  was  always  my  aim  to 
impress  the  necessity  of  living  better  lives,  and  being  Christians,  I 


ENVIRONMENT  23 

did  not  urge  the  young  men  to  become  Methodists,  and  thus  separate 
families;  and  to-day  many  of  these  young  men  are  now  active  workers 
in  various  churches;  and  while  no  other  one  has  become  as  noted  as 
Doctor  Chapman  in  religious  work,  I  am  thankful  that  their  upright, 
conscientious  lives  are  helping  to  make  a  better  world. 

I  have  a  letter  from  Doctor  Chapman  written  April  twenty-eighth, 
1916,  when  after  many  years  he  learned  where  I  lived,  as  I  left  Rich- 
mond years  ago — in  this  he  says — "I  suspect  you  have  forgotten  me, 
but  I  assure  you  I  will  never  forget  you,  and  I  wonder  if  you  remember 
that  day  when  in  Grace  Methodist  Sunday  School  you  put  your  hand 
under  my  elbow  and  lifted  me  just  a  little  bit,  and  I  stood  up  with  the 
others  to  acknowledge  Christ.  I  do  not  know  if  this  was  the  day  of  my 
conversion,  but  I  do  know  it  was  the  day  of  my  acknowledgment  of 
Christ,  and  in  every  part  of  the  world  I  have  visited  I  have  told  what 
you  did  for  me,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  thousands  of  Sunday 
School  teachers  have  by  this  story  been  influenced  to  seek  to  lead  some- 
body to  Christ.  I  remember  you  so  very,  very  well,  and  I  wish  to 
thank  you  for  all  that  you  did  for  me" — and  then  Mrs.  Binkley 
concludes— 

I  trust  that  in  the  great  day  I  may  receive  the  welcome  commen- 
dation— "she  hath  done  what  she  could." 

In  more  than  one  sermon  the  great  evangelist  referred  to 
what  Mrs.  Binkley  thus  relates  and  held  her  up  as  an  ex- 
ample of  the  power  of  a  personal  touch  in  leading  the  soul 
to  an  open  confession  of  Christ. 

On  Sunday,  September  third,  1876,  he  and  his  brother 
"Eddie  "united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Richmond. 
That  week  he  left  for  Oberlin.  This  is  certified  by  a  letter 
written  by  his  father  and  directed  to  him  there  dated 
September  tenth,  1876. 

In  this  letter  the  father  writes: 

Do  not  forget  my  remarks  to  you  on  last  Sabbath  evening  just  one 
week  ago.  I  think  of  them  and  of  you,  and  to-day  in  church  my  mind 
wandered  back  to  the  scenes  of  a  week  ago  and  to  the  stand  you  and 
Eddie  took,  that  at  your  early  age  you  came  out  and  willingly  placed 
yourself  on  the  side  of  right  in  the  church.  How  gratifying  to  me  and 
to  us  all!    And  oh,  Willie,  night  and  morning  my  prayer  has  been 


24       J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

offered  for  you,  that  God  will  bless  and  direct  you,  that  He  will  keep 
you  from  danger,  sin,  and  temptation,  and  if  it  be  His  will  to  spare  you, 
that  you  may  be  a  good  and  useful  man  in  the  world. 

To  this  letter  there  is  appended  a  postscript  in  red  ink: 

Willie,  preserve  this  letter  and  look  it  over  occasionally.  I  think 
it  will  prove  beneficial  to  you. 

A.  H.  C. 

Little  did  the  father  dream  of  how  that  letter  would  be 
cherished,  surviving  his  own  death  and  that  of  his  son,  and 
bequeathed  as  a  priceless  legacy  to  his  grandchildren. 

In  Scripture  there  is  the  record  of  one  who  "being  dead 
yet  speaketh."    In  the  margin  it  reads — "  is  yet  spoken  of." 


CHAPTER  III 

COLLEGE  AND  SEMINARY 

Oberlin  College,  saturated  with  the  memory  of  Charles 
G.  Finney,  was  a  field  favourable  to  the  quickening  and 
growth  of  the  evangelistic  spirit. 

To  that  institution  there  went,  as  before  stated,  young 
Chapman  with  a  letter  of  introduction  as  follows: 

Richmond,  1st  of  September,  1876. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Fairchild, 
President  of  Oberlin  College, 
Dear  Sir: 

This  will  introduce  to  you  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  of  our  city,  and  a 
member  of  our  Presbyterian  Church.  He  purposes  to  become  a 
student  in  your  College  and  I  commend  him  to  your  attention. 

In  habits,  morals,  industry,  economy,  conduct,  etc.,  you  will  find 
him  all  that  you  can  desire.  I  know  nothing  as  to  his  scholarship 
except  that  what  attainments  he  has  made  have  been  while  attending 
to  other  business  and  of  his  own  motion.  He  is  worthy  of  your  fullest 
confidence,  and  any  assistance  you  can  give  him  in  finding  good  and 
cheap  boarding  will  be  fully  appreciated.  Both  he  and  Mr.  McWhin- 
ney  go  to  your  place  as  entire  strangers,  and  I  trust  that  you  will  give 
them  a  little  kindly  oversight  till  they  are  fully  in  the  harness. 

Mr.  Chapman  would  like  to  enter  the  Freshman  class  in  Latin  and 
Mathematics  and  to  begin  at  once  the  study  of  Greek.  If  allowed  to 
do  so  I  am  confident  that  he  will  fully  sustain  himself. 

Sincerely  yours, 

I^M.  HUGHE^^ 

Dr.  Hughes  was  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Richmond  and  the  letter  was  written  on  Friday  night 

25 


26      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

when  Wilbur  on  confession  of  faith  was  received  by  the 
session  into  membership  of  the  Church. 

Oberhn  began  as  a  co-educational  institution  in  1833,  and 
two  years  later  Mr.  Finney  arrived  to  occupy  the  Chair  of 
Theology.  He  continued  as  a  Professor  until  1851  when 
he  was  elected  President.  It  may  have  been  his  spirit  per- 
vading the  Institution  that  drew  Wilbur  to  it. 

Before  going  to  Oberlin  he  had  acquired  a  moderate  ac- 
count in  a  Richmond  savings  bank  and  throughout  his 
college  and  seminary  career  he  was  able,  by  his  own 
work  during  vacations,  to  increase  his  resources  to  such 
an  extent  that  before  leaving  the  Seminary  he  was  self- 
sustaining. 

During  his  college  term  at  Oberlin  he  received  from  home, 
with  unfailing  regularity,  letters  that  he  treasured  and  care- 
fully kept  through  life.  In  more  than  fifty  of  these  letters 
his  father  rarely  failed  to  exhort  him  "to  diligence  and  to 
devotion."  "Secure  a  room,"  he  wrote,  "entirely  to  your- 
self so  that  you  may  not  be  hindered  in  study  or  in  devout 
meditation  and  prayer.  Do  not  permit  it  ever  to  become 
a  resort  for  the  many  that  you  will  encounter.  Let  the 
room  be  a  sanctuary  consecrated  to  Christ."  In  these 
letters,  over  and  over  again,  there  is  the  urgent  appeal  for 
him  to  be  constant  in  his  efforts  to  lead  others  to  the  Saviour. 
It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  these  letters,  in  contrast  with 
all  former  ones,  are  never  addressed  "Willie"  nor  even 
"Will "  but  by  the  simple,  proud  title—" My  Son."  Twice 
he  admonished  him,  "not  to  incur  debt,"  and,  when  pre- 
paring to  return  home,  "to  make  sure  that  nothing  remained 
unpaid." 

In  those  days  he  possessed  a  violin  and,  by  his  persistent 
endeavour  to  master  it,  revealed  his  love  for  music.    But 


COLLEGE  AND  SEMINARY  27 

his  expense  account  became  too  great  and  he  was  compelled 
to  sacrifice  the  instrument  for  fifteen  dollars. 

At  one  time  he  reluctantly  wrote  to  his  brother  "Ed" — 
then  working  in  a  Richmond  bank — to  know  if  a  little  relief 
could  not  be  accorded.  His  father  answered  the  letter  with 
something  of  a  proud  touch  of  gentle  reproof — "Do  you  not 
think  you  ought  to  write  to  me  about  such  matters?  I  en- 
close my  check  for  fifteen  dollars.  Let  me  know  if  there  is 
further  need." 

Attention  is  called  to  these  small  matters  because  they 
reveal  so  clearly  the  human  and  ordinary  experiences  to 
which  he  was  no  stranger. 

After  spending  one  year  at  Oberlin  he,  in  the  fall  of  1877, 
matriculated  in  Lake  Forest  College.  This  Institution 
under  that  name  was  established  in  1876.  The  educational 
Institution  of  which  it  was  the  outcome  was  first  incorpor- 
ated in  1857  under  the  name  of  Lind  University,  that  name 
being  changed  in  1865  to  Lake  Forest  University. 

Wilbur  was  spoken  of  as  "modest  and  of  a  retiring  dis- 
position"; and  one  of  his  fellow  students  writes — "I  can 
yet  hear  Chapman's  genial  laugh  at  the  exit  from  the  class- 
room, and  recall  how  he  enjoyed  a  little  good-humoured 
teasing,  whether  at  his  own  expense  or  other's." 

There  is  one  incident  of  his  life  at  Lake  Forest  that  no 
source  of  information  fails  to  emphasize.  In  the  same  class 
with  him  was  B.  Fay  Mills,  then  a  youth  of  brilliant  prom- 
ise, and  destined  for  a  great  future  in  the  evangelistic  work 
of  the  Church.  Between  "  Bill "  and  "  Fay  "—as  they  called 
each  other — was  formed  a  warm  and  deep  attachment  that 
remained  unbroken  through  life.  Alike  destined  to  be 
conspicuous  and  commanding  figures  in  the  same  field  of 
service,  they  were  essentially  different  in  temperament  and 


28      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

in  methods.  These  differences,  while  not  clearly  defined 
during  college  life,  became  accentuated  enough  in  after 
years.  Mills  was  like  a  meteor  that  flashed  across  the  face 
of  the  sky.  Chapman  was  like  the  steady  shining  of  the 
North  star.  Mills  was  stern,  uncompromising,  and  thun- 
dered the  Law  of  God.  Chapman  was  gentle,  persuasive, 
and  proclaimed  the  Grace  of  God.  Under  the  blows  of  Mills 
men  were  broken.  By  the  pleading  of  Chapman  men  were 
melted.  Men  broken  are  not  easily  mended;  men  melted 
may  be  moulded  anew. 

Mills  had  no  education  in  systematic  theology  and  when 
he  came  under  the  influence  of  George  D.  Herron,  his  un- 
stable foundations  crumpled  beneath  him.  His  collapse 
gave  a  shock  of  inexpressible  sorrow  to  Dr.  Chapman  who, 
on  one  occasion,  went  all  the  way  to  Oakland,  California, 
to  plead  with  him  to  put  away  the  strange  doctrine  that  had 
so  grieved  his  friends  and  so  utterly  destroyed  his  influence. 
But  Mills  was  obdurate  until,  like  the  prodigal,  wTecked  in 
fortune  and  broken  in  spirit,  he  turned  his  face  to  the  faith 
of  his  father.  He  wired  his  friend  and  they  lunched  to- 
gether at  the  Transportation  Club  in  New  York  before 
public  retraction  was  made  in  the  Metropolitan  Building. 

Many  questioned  the  sincerity  of  his  repentance.  They 
could  not  feel  sure  that  the  Unitarianism  and  worse  that  had 
permeated  his  system  had  really  been  eradicated  from  it. 
At  any  rate,  he  never  regained  what  he  had  lost.  But  Dr. 
Chapman  believed  in  him  and  used  every  ounce  of  his  com- 
manding influence  to  restore  him  to  the  confidence  of  the 
Church.  When  Mills  died,  none  mourned  for  him  more 
deeply. 

Dr.  Chapman's  career  was  in  striking  contrast  with  that 
of  his  friend.    No  subtle  influence  was  ever  able  to  lure 


COLLEGE  AND  SEMINARY  29 

him  from  the  faith  of  his  father.  His  theology,  Christo 
centric,  as  taught  by  Dr.  Edward  T.  Morris,  rested  upon 
secure  and  strong  foundations.  From  the  day  he  entered 
upon  his  pubHc  ministry  until  the  day  he  received  his  call 
from  on  high  he  never  for  a  moment  questioned  the  inspira- 
tion or  the  authority  of  the  Word  of  God. 

While  he  and  Mills  were  at  Lake  Forest,  D.  L.  Moody 
held  in  Chicago  a  series  of  evangelistic  meetings.  Many  of 
the  Lake  Forest  students,  and  among  them  Wilbur,  went 
to  these  meetings.  They  heard  Moody  preach.  At  that 
time  Wilbur  was  in  a  state  of  mind  so  common  to  young 
Christians.  He  had  openly  confessed  Christ  in  the  Method- 
ist Sunday  School  at  Richmond.  He  had  united  with  the 
church  two  years  before  in  his  home  town.  He  had  the  con- 
stant admonition  of  a  godly  father.  He  had  the  memory 
of  a  sainted  mother.  He  tried  hard  to  live  a  consistent  life. 
Yet  he  was  without  any  certainty  of  his  salvations  In  that 
state  of  mind  he  heard  Mr.  Moody  preach.  With  others  he 
went  into  the  inquiry  room.  Mr.  Moody  came  in  and, 
perhaps  attracted  by  the  earnest  face  of  the  young  man,  sat 
down  beside  him.  This  was  the  first  personal  contact  be- 
tween these  two  men  who  were  afterward  to  be  so  very 
intimately  related. 

Of  this  never  to  be  forgotten  meeting  Dr.  Chapman  says: 

When  the  great  evangelist  called  for  an  after-meeting  I  was  one 
of  the  first  to  enter  the  room  and  to  my  great  joy  Mr.  Moody  came 
and  sat  down  beside  me.  I  confessed  that  I  was  not  quite  sure  that 
I  was  saved.  He  handed  me  his  opened  Bible  and  asked  me  to  read 
John  5:24;  and,  trembling  with  emotion  I  read — 

"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  heareth  my  word,  and 
believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come 
into  condemnation;  but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life." 

He  said  to  me:    'J Do  you  believe  this?"    I  answered:    "Cer- 


30      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

tainly."  He  said:  "Are  you  a  Christian?"  I  replied:  "Some- 
times I  think  I  am  and  again  I  am  fearful."  "Read  it  again,"  he 
said.*  Then  he  repeated  his  two  questions  and  I  had  to  answer  as 
before.  Then  Mr.  Moody  seemed — it  was  an  only  time — to  lose 
patience,  and  he  spoke  sharply:  "Whom  are  you  doubting?"  and 
then  it  all  came  to  me  with  startling  suddenness.  "Read  it  again," 
said  Moody,  and  for  the  third  time  he  asked:  "Do  you  believe  it?" 
I  said:  "Yes,  indeed  I  do."  "Well  are  you  a  Christian?" — and  I 
answered:  "Yes,  Mr.  Moody,  I  am."  From  that  day  to  this  I  have 
never  questioned  my  acceptance  with  God. 

This  method  of  bringing  the  soul  under  the  direct  power  of 
Scripture  was  adopted  by  Dr.  Chapman  in  the  great  after- 
meetings  held  by  him.  He  would  take  one  after  another 
texts  that  had  some  bearing  upon  the  open  confession  of 
Christ  and  the  certainty  of  salvation,  and  expound 
these  with  a  directness  and  simplicity  that  none 
could  escape.  He  would  invariably  end  with  this  particu- 
lar verse  in  the  Gospel  of  John  by  which  he  had  been  led 
by  Mr.  Moody  into  the  full  light  of  the  certainty  of  his 
own  salvation. 

His  father  died  at  Richmond,  on  the  sixteenth  of  March, 
1878.  More  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  afterward  Dr. 
Chapman  published  his  volume  entitled  ''Fishing  for 
Men."  The  dedication  of  that  book  was  inspired  by  the 
indestructible  memories  of  the  past: 

TO  MY  FATHER 

A  CHRISTIAN  GENTLEMAN,  AN  IDEAL  FATHER 

AND 

A  PRIEST  IN  HIS  HOUSEHOLD 

After  the  funeral  services  he  returned  to  Lake  Forest  and 
the  record  tells  us  that  on  the  thirteenth  of  December  of 
that  year  he  delivered  an  oration  before  the  Atheneimi 
Literary  Society.    This  indicates  that  he  was  not  only  a 


COLLEGE  AND  SEMINARY  31 

member  of  the  Society  but  must  have  been  at  that  time  a 
student  of  some  literary  and  oratorical  ability. 

During  every  Summer  vacation  he  was  employed  in  one 
way  or  another  until  he  entered  the  Theological  Seminary 
when  he  became  self-sustaining.  With  thirteen  fellow 
students  in  September,  1879,  he  entered  Lane  Seminary. 
He  was  only  a  little  more  than  twenty  years  of  age  and  the 
youngest  man  in  his  class.  He  is  spoken  of  as  "possessed 
of  a  handsome  person,  glowing  health,  and  genial  address — 
a  sort  of  Saul  of  Kish,  towering  above  the  boys,  and  a  uni- 
versal favourite.'' 

The  Faculty  of  Lane  Seminary  at  that  time  consisted  of 
five  strong  men.  Their  homes  were  grouped  about  the 
Seminary  buildings  and  to  these  homes  the  students  were 
welcome. 

To  Dr.  Samuel  T.  Wilson,  a  classmate  of  Dr.  Chapman 
and  now  the  distinguished  President  of  Maryville  College, 
we  are  indebted  for  a  brief  pen  picture  of  the  Faculty: 

Dr.  Edward  D.  Morris  had  already  been  a  professor  for  many  years 
and  also  spent  the  rest  of  his  working  days  at  Lane.  He  was  Emeritus 
Professor  of  Theology  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1915.  To  his  study 
the  boys  went  when  they  were  in  trouble,  and  it  was  in  his  lecture 
room  that  they  received  training,  through  his  well-outlined  system  of 
theology,  in  the  great  truths  of  our  faith.  Doctor  Morris  always 
approached  the  subject  of  theology  as  if  it  were  a  matter  that  affects 
human  character  and  the  life  that  is  to  be  lived,  rather  than  as  a  mere 
dogmatic  scheme  to  be  believed.  That  his  theology  was  Christo- 
centric  was  daily  evident  in  his  lectures,  and  his  students  went  out  to 
preach  Christ  as  the  Lord  of  life.  The  men  all  had  great  respect  for 
Doctor  Morris  and  he  had  a  vital  personal  interest  in  every  one  of 
them. 

Dr.  Zephaniah  M.  Humphrey,  son  of  President  Herman  Humphrey 
of  Amherst  College,  gave  courses  of  lectures  on  sacred  and  church 
history,  so  clear-cut,  comprehensive,  and  satisfactory  that  many  of  his 
old  students  still  keep  their  notebooks  within  reach  for  reference. 


32      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

We  were  never  content  to  miss  a  lecture.  His  personal  influence  upon 
the  students  was  very  great.  He  was  a  gentleman  in  every  respect 
and  the  students  loved  him.  The  greatest  tragedy  of  the  three  years 
spent  at  Lane  by  the  class  of  1882  was  the  apparently  untimely  death 
of  Doctor  Humphrey,  in  November,  1881.  As  he  lay  dying,  he  dic- 
tated to  Doctor  Morris  a  loving  message  to  his  students,  in  which  he 
told  them  to  do  everything  they  could  for  the  honour  of  their  Lord  and 
Master,  and  testified  that  if  he  were  to  recover  from  that  mortal  illness, 
he  would  render  a  more  loving  service  to  his  Lord  because  of  what  he 
had  seen  of  Him  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  Chapman 
shared  with  his  classmates  the  deep  sense  of  bereavement  at  the  loss  of 
so  honoured  and  beloved  an  instructor. 

Dr.  James  Eells  had  just  come  to  the  Seminary  from  his  successful 
work  on  the  western  coast,  and  our  class  was  the  first  to  receive 
his  full  course  of  lectures,  and  to  be  drilled  under  his  able  system  of 
instruction.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  College  and  had  had 
that  superior  training  in  outlining  and  oratory  for  which  old  Hamilton 
was  famous.  He  drilled  Chapman  and  the  rest  of  the  men  in  a  most 
practical  and  effective  way.  He  himself  was  an  admirable  speaker, 
had  the  tact  and  the  instincts  of  a  teacher,  and  was  able  to  impart  to 
the  men  in  his  classes  an  eagerness  and  enthusiasm  to  do  well  their 
exalted  work  as  ambassadors  of  the  Church  and  its  King.  Chap- 
man's heart-to-heart  appeal  in  speaking,  and  his  direct,  enthusiastic 
eloquence  received  a  great  deal  of  their  vigour  and  winsomeness  from 
the  teaching  of  Doctor  Eells. 

Dr.  Llewellyn  J.  Evans  occupied  the  chair  of  Hermeneutics.  The 
class  studied,  under  his  masterly  direction,  among  other  books  of  the 
New  Testament,  the  epistle  to  the  Philippians,  and  it  always  stood 
out  thereafter  as  one  of  the  most  wonderful  portions  of  the  Bible. 
Doctor  Evans  had  the  insight  of  a  philosopher,  the  genius  of  a  linguist, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  imagination  of  a  poet  (he  wrote  poetry  in 
both  English  and  Welsh),  and  with  it  all  a  modesty  that  was  almost 
painful.  The  class  of  1882  profited  greatly  from  his  inspiring  leader- 
ship in  the  work  of  Biblical  exposition.  He  also  had  the  affection  of 
every  member  of  our  class,  including,  of  course,  that  of  J.  Wilbur 
Chapman. 

Dr.  Henry  P.  Smith  had  the  Department  of  Hebrew  and  was  an 
accurate  and  able  scholar  in  his  chosen  field  of  work.  The  drilling  he 
gave  the  boys  in  Hebrew  certainly  removed  from  himself  all  responsi- 
bility for  their  poor  scholarship,  if  such  poor  scholarship  they  mani- 
fested.    Genesis,  Job,  Psalms,  Isaiah,  and  some  of  the  minor  proph- 


COLLEGE  AND  SEMINARY  33 

ets  passed  in  review  under  his  tutelage.  The  Hebrew  committed 
to  memory  has  not  yet  passed  out  of  the  memories  of  the  members  of 
the  class  of  1882.  Doctor  Smith  also  rendered  substantial  service  to 
the  students  as  librarian  of  the  Seminary;  and  his  home  was  always 
open  with  cordial  hospitality  to  their  visits. 

The  Faculty  was  not  a  large  one  as  compared  with  some 
of  the  present  seminary  faculties,  but  every  man  was  a  hard 
worker  and  no  member  of  the  class  complained  for  lack  of 
work  nor  of  proper  guidance  in  his  studies. 

In  those  days  the  colleges  and  seminaries  were  prolific  in 
gifted  men  destined  to  Christian  leadership.  The  lapse 
that  came  later  was  not  so  much  due  to  criticism  as  to  in- 
dustrialism. The  development  and  application  of  electrical 
energy,  together  with  the  institution  of  technical  schools, 
diverted  men  from  the  ministry  and  made  all  the  more  nec- 
essary such  antecedent  leadership. 

In  Lane,  as  in  other  theological  seminaries,  the  under- 
graduates lost  no  opportunity  to  preach,  not  only  to  ''exer- 
cise their  gifts"  but  also  to  dilate  the  exility  of  their  income. 
Wilbur  is  spoken  of  as  ''a  universal  favourite  and  in  early 
and  constant  demand  as  a  supply  preacher  for  vacant 
pulpits." 

He  kept  with  peculiar  satisfaction  a  commendation  given 
to  him  by  an  elder  of  the  Avondale  Church,  Theophilus 
Wilson,  the  uncle  of  his  classmate  Samuel  T.  Wilson,  which 
reads  as  follows: 

Avondale,  Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio. 
March  20th,  1880. 

To  any  Presbyterian  Church  desiring  the  Ministration  of  a  young  man 

as  Summer  Supply: 

Rev.  J.  W.  Chapman  has  for  some  months  taught  a  Bible  class  in  the 
Sabbath  School  at  Ludlow  Grove,  and  preached  on  Sabbath  evenings, 
as  well  as  presided  frequently  at  the  prayer  meetings  of  the  Christian 


34      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Association;  and  in  all  these  positions  he  has  given  evidence  of  tact, 
talent,  and  intelligent,  prudent,  Christian  zeal  and  energy,  and  has 
shown  himself  controlled  by  sound  common  sense  in  his  intercourse 
with  young  and  old. 

Mr.  Chapman  desires  to  have  charge  of  a  church  until  next  Sep- 
tember, that  he  may  secure  means  to  continue  his  studies  in  Lane 
Seminary  next  year. 

If  the  Ludlow  Grove  Mission  had  the  means  he  would  not  be  allowed 
to  go  from  them. 

I  cheerfully  and  heartily  commend  Mr.  Chapman  as  a  man:  and  as  a 
young  minister  of  great  promise  to  any  congregation  desiring  tempo- 
rary supply. 

That  letter  written  by  one  so  revered  and  respected  as 
was  this  distinguished  elder  is  a  fine  testimony  to  Wilbur's 
ability  even  in  his  junior  year.  It  shows  how  fully  he  had 
won  the  hearts  of  those  to  whom  he  ministered,  and  revealed 
that  independence  of  spirit  that  prompted  him  to  work  his 
own  way  through  the  Seminary. 

During  one  vacation  he  was  at  Richmond,  a  guest  at 
Willow  Brook  Farm,  the  home  of  his  boyhood  friend, 
Charles  S.  White.  At  one  comer  of  the  farm  there  was 
located  the  "Smyrna  (Quaker)  Meeting  House."  "When 
visiting  us" — so  wrote  White — "Wilbur  often  attended 
services  with  us  there.  The  Elders  would  invite  him  to  sit 
with  them  on  the  'facing  seats.'  He  there  gave  us  some 
wonderful  sermons  years  before  he  was  ordained  as  a  min- 
ister." 

The  Reverend  D.  Edward  Evans,  now  pastor  of  the  Cal- 
vary Presbyterian  Church  of  Minneapolis,  another  class- 
mate at  Lane,  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  their  relationship: 

I  first  became  acquainted  with  him  at  Lane  Seminary,  in  September, 
1879,  and  for  three  years  the  intimacy  grew.  In  all  the  close  associa- 
tions of  student  life,  the  intimate  table  talk,  and  frequent  walks  to- 
gether, I  was  first  of  all  impressed  by  the  charm  of  his  personality. 


COLLEGE  AND  SEMINARY  35 

He  was  a  man  among  men.  He  revealed  then  the  same  friendly 
earnestness  and  sincerity  that  gave  him  during  his  whole  life  such 
wonderful  grip  on  men  and  boys.  In  his  class-work  he  was  always 
bright,  and  mastered  his  subjects  easily,  though  excellence  in  scholar- 
ship was  never  his  aim,  for  to  him  it  was  only  a  means  to  the  high  end 
of  preaching  the  everlasting  Gospel  of  Christ.  His  remarkable 
memory  enabled  him  to  assimilate  in  the  least  possible  time  the  sub- 
stance of  whatever  he  heard  or  read,  and  it  was  systematically  stored 
in  his  mind,  ready  for  instant  use.  He  was  even  then  a  master  in 
facility  and  beauty  of  diction,  which  adorned  and  made  most  captivat- 
ing the  message  of  the  Gospel  he  so  greatly  loved.  He  was  also  a  great 
lover  of  music,  and  possessed  a  voice  of  wonderful  sweetness,  and  he 
sang  the  leading  part  in  the  chapel  choir  of  Lane  during  those  years. 

It  was  natural  that  in  our  confidential  talks  in  those  days  our  future 
plans  would  be  discussed.  Some  of  us  were  drawn  to  the  foreign 
field,  and  others  to  Home  Mission  work,  and  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  re- 
marked to  me  once  that  if  there  was  any  pulpit  he  would  desire  to 
occupy,  more  than  any  other,  it  would  be  in  the  First  Church  of 
Indianapolis,  giving  as  his  reason  its  unequalled  position  to  preach 
Christ's  message  to  the  men  of  his  home  state.  Little  did  we  then 
know  how  soon  he  would  be  welcomed  into  the  foremost  pulpits  of  the 
world!  It  was  natural  that,  during  his  seminary  days,  his  Sundays 
should  be  occupied  in  preaching,  and  he  gave  his  services  with  great 
acceptance,  and  during  most  of  that  time  exclusively,  in  the  churches 
in  Liberty,  Indiana,  and  College  Corner,  Ohio,  and  it  was  their  call  to 
be  their  pastor  which  he  accepted  in  preference  to  all  others  at  the 
conclusion  of  his  Seminary  course. 

During  all  these  later  years,  in  all  our  associations  together,  I  have 
been  more  and  more  impressed  by  two  outstanding  facts  revealed  in 
Doctor  Chapman's  character  and  work.  First  of  all,  he  was  fully 
surrendered,  "  body,  soul  and  spirit,"  to  the  indwelling  and  power  of 
the  Spirit  of  God.  And  second,  he  had  one  great  purpose  in  life,  like 
the  "  this  one  thing  I  do"  of  the  great  Apostle,  the  "  mark  of  the  high 
calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus" — it  was  to  "  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature."  Like  Zinzendorff  of  old,  Doctor  Chapman  could  also  say, 
V I  have  but  one  passion,  IT  IS  HE! " 

Dr.  A.  N.  Thompson,  also  of  the  same  class,  says  of  him: 

Doctor  Chapman's  seminary  course  did  not  seem  to  me  to  be 
markedly  different  from  the  ordinary.     At  its  beginning  he  was  the 


36      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

youngest  man  in  the  Seminary,  and  I  think  held  that  position  until 
graduation. 

His  preaching,  as  a  student,  was  very  evangelistic — far  more  so 
than  that  of  his  fellow  students.  I  do  not  recall  that  in  any  other 
particular  than  this  his  seminary  course  presaged  his  future  course  of 
usefulness  as  an  evangelist  and  evangelistic  administrator. 

There  was  little  opportunity  in  the  Seminary  for  the  manifestation 
of  the  organizing  and  executive  ability  which  he  later  developed,  and  I 
do  not  think  that  either  Faculty  or  fellow  student  at  that  time  realized 
his  superiority  in  these  particulars. 

In  a  general  way  he  seemed  to  me  to  be  almost  brilliant;  but  not  at 
that  time  an  outstanding  genius.  He  was  not  a  close  student:  but 
his  brilliancy  seemed  to  me  to  show  itself  in  his  ability  to  acquire 
knowledge,  to  acquire  it  readily,  to  acquire  it  with  much  less  than  the 
usual  amount  of  study,  and  to  use  it  effectively  both  in  conversation 
and  discourse. 

His  student  sermons  did  not  impress  me  as  being  more  thoughtful 
than  those  of  other  students;  but  they  seemed  less  bookish  both  in 
arrangement  and  delivery,  and  they  were  more  simple,  direct,  personal. 

He  did  more  preaching  in  the  vacant  churches  within  reach  than  did 
other  students  and  he  was  very  popular  with  the  congregations  to 
which  he  ministered. 

During  these  years  he  developed  a  marked  talent  for 
music.  His  voice  was  of  peculiar  timbre,  round,  full, 
sonorous,  abundantly  strong,  and  yet  of  a  smoothness  and 
mellowness  that  softened  and  melted  the  most  unrespon- 
sive. The  undefinable,  almost  weird  power  of  these  ap- 
pealing tones,  made  hallowed  and  more  pungent  by  intense 
love  and  hunger  for  souls,  constituted  an  element  in  his 
subsequent  preaching  that  had  so  much  to  do  with  its  win- 
some power. 

Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  known  and  loved  throughout  the 
Presbyterian  Church  as  the  efficient  Secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions,  says  of  him: 

We  were  fellow  students  in  Lane  Theological  Seminary  in  Cincin- 
nati.   He  was  a  year  ahead  of  me,  and  you  will  understand  how 


COLLEGE  AND  SEMINARY  37 

warmly  my  heart  responded  when,  shortly  after  my  arrival  as  a  new 
student,  he  sought  me  out  and  gave  me  cordial  welcome.  The 
personal  friendship  which  was  then  begun  became  closer  during  the 
remainder  of  his  seminary  course,  and  all  through  his  ministry  we 
continued  these  delightful  and  intimate  relations  as  opportunity  per- 
mitted. He  was  characterized  in  the  Seminary  by  a  sunniness  of 
disposition,  a  charm  of  manner,  and  a  spirituality  of  life  that  deeply 
impressed  us  all.  His  passionate  desire  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  his 
Lord  and  Saviour  could  not  wait  for  his  graduation,  and  he  regularly 
preached  during  his  student  course,  and  always  to  the  marked  ac- 
ceptance of  his  hearers.  I  counted  Doctor  Chapman  one  of  the  most 
devoted  servants  of  Christ  that  I  have  ever  known;  a  man  who  walked 
with  God,  who  proclaimed  the  Gospel  with  extraordinary  power,  and 
who  not  only  preached,  but  lived  in  such  a  way  that  all  who  knew  him 
took  knowledge  of  him  that  he  had  been  with  Jesus. 

On  April  thirteenth,  1881,  the  Presbytery  of  Whitewater 
met  at  Shelbyville,  and  J.  W.  Chapman  ''having  given 
satisfaction  as  to  his  accomplishments  in  literature,  as  to  his 
experimental  acquaintance  with  religion,  and  as  to  his  pro- 
ficiency in  divinity  and  other  studies,"  the  said  Presbytery 
licensed  him  *'to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  as  a  proba- 
tioner for  the  holy  ministry,  within  the  bounds  of  this  Presby- 
tery, or  wherever  else  he  should  be  orderly  called." 

On  August  eighth  of  the  same  year,  1881,  he  received 
from  the  Probate  Court,  Butler  County,  Ohio,  a  ''Minister's 
License,"  by  which  he  was  "authorized  and  empowered  to 
solemnize  marriages"  within  the  state  "according  to  the 
Statute  in  such  cases  made  and  provided." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON 

The  graduating  exercises  at  Lane  came  to  a  close  on 
Thursday,  May  fourth,  and  the  fourteen  men  constituting 
the  class  of  '82  received  the  salutation  given  to  those  in- 
ducted into  the  sacred  knighthood  of  the  gospel  ministry. 
Dr.  D.  E.  Evans,  a  member  of  the  class,  writes: 

It  was  one  of  those  balmy  days  of  spring  for  which  southern  Ohio  is 
noted,  and  the  beautiful  suburb  of  Walnut  Hills  was  an  ideal  place 
for  the  Commencement.  The  routine  classwork  of  the  three  previous 
years,  and  the  examinations  of  the  three  previous  days  were  but  a 
memory-  The  reception  on  Tuesday  evening,  in  the  Chapel,  gave 
us  once  more  the  glad  hand  of  encouragement  from  our  professors  and 
friends  of  the  Seminary,  the  cordiality  of  which  had  ever  been  among 
the  most  helpful  influences  during  the  years  of  preparation. 

Upon  the  special  invitation  of  the  Session  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Walnut  Hills,  of  which  Rev.  George  Fullerton,  D.  D.,  was 
then  Pastor,  the  Commencement  Exercises  were  held  in  the  spacious 
auditorium  of  their  beautiful  new  building,  being  the  first  public  meet- 
ing held  there.  Besides  our  professors  there  were  seated  on  the  plat- 
form some  notable  friends  of  the  Seminary,  and  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
among  them  the  Reverend  George  M.  Maxwell,  D.  D.,  the  President 
of  that  Board,  and  the  Honourable  Henry  Preserved  Smith,  of  Dayton, 
Ohio,  and  the  Honourable  Daniel  P.  Eells,  of  Cleveland. 

The  graduating  class  consisted  of  fourteen  men,  each  delivering  an 
oration.  The  theme  of  Doctor  Chapman's  oration — "The  Immor- 
tality of  Influence" — thirty-seven  years  ago,  was  significant  of  the 
eminent  usefulness  of  his  devoted  life;  for  our  influence,  whether  great 
or  small,  will  be  as  immortal  as  the  souls  we  meet.  On  the  flyleaf  of 
my  little  memorandum  book  of  that  period  I  find  written  with  Chap- 
man's pen  the  following: 

38 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     39 

"How  long  sometimes  a  day  appears, 
And  weeks,  how  long  are  they; 

Months  move  as  if  the  years  would  never  pass  away. 
But  months  and  weeks  are  passing  by. 
And  soon  must  all  be  gone; 
For  day  by  day,  as  moments  fly, 
Eternity  comes  on." 

The  myriad-fold  fruits  of  his  many-sided  life  will  evermore  in- 
crease throughout  eternity.  He  "rests  from  his  labours,  but  his 
works  go  right  on." 

On  the  following  Thursday,  May  eleventh,  there  appeared 
in  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer  the  following  announcement: 

MARRIED 

Chapman-Steddom.  At  the  residence  of  the  bride's  father,  Mr. 
Joseph  Steddom,  near  Russell's  Station  at  2  o'clock  p.  m..  May  10th, 
by  the  Rev.  D.  F.  Harris,  Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  of  Liberty, 
Indiana,  to  Miss  Irene  E.  Steddom. 

''While  in  Lane  Seminary" — so  Mr.  White  has  written — 
"Wilbur  renewed  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Irene  E.  Sted- 
dom, my  cousin,  whom  he  had  met  when  a  little  boy  at 
Richmond  and  whom  he  married  just  a  few  days  after  he 
finished  his  work  at  Lane  Seminary.  She  had  resided  in 
Cincinnati  practically  all  of  her  life,  -her  parents  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Quaker  Church  of  Cincinnati,  her  mother,  who  is 
still  living  was,  and  is,  a  pianist  of  unusual  ability.  Miss 
Steddom  was  a  girl  of  delightful  personality,  an  accom- 
plished vocalist,  and  possessed  "^a  soprano  voice  of -unusual 
sweetness." 

Before  his  graduation  Wilbur  had  received  concurrent 
calls  from  Liberty,  Indiana,  and  College  Corner,  Ohio. 

The  churches  in  these  two  places  were  at  that  time  under 
the  care  of  one  pastor.  On  Saturday,  March  eleventh, 
1882,  he  was  formally  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church 


40      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

at  College  Corner,  and  two  days  later,  on  the  thirteenth 
of  March,  he  was  given  an  identical  call  to  Liberty.  Each 
of  these  calls  contained  a  specification  for  "half  of  his  time" 
and  both  calls  were  subscribed  by  the  Reverend  A.  C. 
Junkin,  Moderator. 

In  both  calls  also  there  is  the  exact-and  laconic  statement, 
common  to  all  such  documents  and  interesting  alike  to 
Levite  and  Lay  brother — "And  that  you  may  be  free 
from  worldly  cares  and  avocations,  we  hereby  promise  and 
pledge  ourselves  to  pay,  etc." 

In  the  docimients  under  consideration  the  amount  speci- 
fied in  one  is  five  hundred  dollars  and  in  the  other  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars  to  be  paid  "in  regular  quarterly 
payments." 

As  no  reference  in  either  is  made  to  a  manse  it  is  presum- 
able that,  like  Paul,  Wilbur  lived  "in  his  own  hired 
house." 

Liberty  lies  about  ten  miles  down  the  charming  valley 
south  of  Richmond  and  is  the  coui't-site  of  Union  County, 
Indiana. 

Just  across  a  gentle  ridge  of  hills,  which  divides  the  water- 
flow  between  the  Miami  of  Ohio  and  the  Whitewater  of 
Indiana,  lies  the  little  hamlet  of  College  Comer.  It  spreads 
forth  bravely  and  broadly  and,  while  it  contains  a  dozen 
to  a  score  of  houses,  it  yet  assumes  village  jurisdiction  in 
two  states  and  in  three  counties — Preble  and  Butler  of  Ohio, 
and  Union  of  Indiana.  Its  constituency  is  made  up  of 
something  like  a  half  thousand  farms  which  lie  within  a 
radius  of  five  miles  from  the  centre  where  the  little  Ohio 
Post  Office  stands,  and  where  the  white  spire  of  the  church 
marks  the  gathering  spot  for  those  in  behalf  of  whom  Wilbur 
was  called  to  minister  in  spiritual  things. 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     41 

The  Reverend  A.  F.  Davis,  present  pastor  of  the  Liberty 
church,  says: 

The  records  are  somewhat  meagre  but  the  following  data  may  be  of 
interest  to  you.  Doctor  Chapman  began  his  ministry  here  while  a 
student  of  Lane  Seminary  as  nearly  as  can  be  determined  in  the  fall 
of  1879.  His  installation  did  not  take  place  until  May  fifteenth,  1881. 
Rev.  D.  R.  Moore,  of  Brookville,  Indiana,  now  of  Dunlapsville, 
Indiana,  preached  the  sermon.  Rev.  I.  M.  Hughes  charged  the  pastor 
and  Rev.  A.  C.  Junking  the  people.  The  services  are  referred  to  as 
very  impressive.  He  entered  upon  his  work  with  the  hearty  support 
of  the  church  and  people.  During  his  pastorate  here  there  were  forty- 
three  additions  to  the  church.  Many  of  the  people  of  Liberty  still 
remember  him  during  his  ministry  among  them  and  speak  with  the 
utmost  appreciation  of  the  man  and  his  work.  His  first  pastorate  was 
a  prophecy  of  the  future  greatness  of  the  man. 

Into  the  domestic  life  we  have  but  a  meagre  glimpse  and 
that  given  to  us  by  Mr.  White.    He  says: 

I  lived  in  Liberty  a  little  more  than  a  year  while  they  were 
there.  He  kept  a  horse  and  phaeton  and  drove  from  our  place  to 
the  other  for  alternating  services.  His  work  at  both  churches  was 
quite  out  of  the  ordinary.  Liberty  was  then  a  town  of  twenty-five 
hundred  or  three  thousand  inhabitants,  more  than  half  of  the 
members  of  his  church  being  residents  of  the  town  and  the  others 
being  farmers. 

At  College  Corner  the  membership  was  composed  almost  entirely 
of  farmers.  I  have  never  known  people  more  enthusiastic  about 
their  minister.  He  was  evangelistic  from  the  very  beginning  of  his 
ministry.  The  earnest  appeal  and  homely  illustrations  that  char- 
acterized his  work  in  after  years  were  quite  as  characteristic  of  his 
early  ministry.  The  churches  were  generally  well  filled,  not  only 
with  church  members  but  with  many  that  were  not  in  the  habit  of 
attending  church  anywhere. 

Mrs.  Chapman  sang  in  the  choir  at  Liberty  and  College  Corner.  It 
was  not  an  unusual  thing  for  Wilbur  to  join  with  her  in  the  singing  of  a 
duet.  Mrs.  Chapman  with  her  wonderfully  sweet  voice  sang  with 
great  expression.    A  solo  sung  by  her — "  Flee  as  a  bird  to  the  Moun- 


42      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

tain" — echoes  yet  down  through  the  halls  of  memory.  When  she 
sang  "Not  Ashamed  of  Christ"  there  would  be  created  that  at- 
mosphere which  prepared  the  people  to  receive  the  message. 

Whatever  may  be  essential  to  the  completion  of  the 
delineation  will  require  no  stimulus  to  the  imagination 
of  those  who  in  after  years  came  to  know  and  love  Dr. 
Chapman. 

He  was  at  that  time,  and  had  been  since  living  in  Lake 
Forest,  in  correspondence  with  his  chum,  B.  Fay  Mills, 
and  as  often  as  possible  they  were  together.  One  summer 
during  the  Lane  Seminary  days  they  were  together  at  Wil- 
low Brook  Farm,  the  home  of  Mr.  White.  Mr.  Mills  had 
before  leaving  Lake  Forest  been  ordained  as  a  Congrega- 
tional minister.  In  September,  1881,  he  had  been  engaged 
to  supply  the  pulpit  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
of  Greenwich,  New  York.  He  was  there  in  1883  when 
Wilbur  came  to  visit  him  and  renew  their  old-time 
intimacies. 

On  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson,  just  across  from  Green- 
wich, lies  the  stirring  little  village  of  Schuylerville,  noted 
industrially  for  its  pulp-paper  products,  and  claiming  gen- 
eral and  popular  notice  because  of  the  fact  that,  in  its  streets 
and  vicinage,  a  notable  battle  and  a  decisive  one  of  the 
American  Revolution  had  been  fought. 

In  the  fall  of  1777  two  British  armies  converged  upon 
Albany:  one  under  Clinton  from  New  York;  the  other  from 
Canada  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain  led  by  Lieutenant- 
General  Sir  John  Burgoyne.  It  was  the  strategic  purpose 
of  these  converging  armies  to  drive  a  wedge  into  the  colonies 
and  so  separate  them.  General  Gates  marched  against 
Burgoyne  and  at  Schuylerville  fought  the  battles  of  Still- 
water and  Bemis  Heights.    On  the  17th  of  October  the 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     43 

English  laid  down  their  arms  and  General  Burgoyne  made 
an  unconditional  surrender.  All  arms  and  equipment  were 
piled  up  on  the  bank  of  the  Hudson,  and  the  troops  were 
allowed  to  return  to  England,  through  Canada,  the  way  they 
had  come.  A  granite  monument  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  high  stands  on  the  heights  above  the  town.  Many 
tablets  mark  spots  of  special  interest  and  many  military 
relics  are  on  exhibition  in  the  Schuylerville  Mansion  Mu- 
seum at  that  place. 

The  Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  this  historic  village  was 
without  a  minister  at  the  time  when  Wilbur  was  a  guest  of 
his  friend  in  Greenwich. 

Mr.  Mills  secured  for  him  an  invitation  to  supply  the 
vacant  pulpit.  He  may  have  done  so  with  the  thought 
that  the  honorarium  to  be  received  would  help  to  pay  trans- 
portation expenses — no  inconsiderable  item  to  a  young 
preacher  on  a  meagre  salary.  It  is  perhaps  more  probable 
that  Mr.  Mills  hoped  his  friend  would  captivate  the  con- 
gregation and  be  given  a  call. 

What  more  natural  than  for  such  close  friends  to  covet 
fields  not  far  apart! 

Whatever  the  springs  of  human  action  we  may  be  sure 
that  the  hand  of  God  was  leading  on  in  the  preparation  of 
His  servant  for  the  great  future  that  lay  before  him. 

It  is  the  custom  in  the  Reformed  Church  to  hear  a  candi- 
date and,  if  well  received  by  the  congregation,  he  must,  be- 
fore any  official  action  is  taken,  pass  a  stiff  and  searching 
examination  by  the  Consistory. 

By  the  rigidity  of  such  a  fixed  code  the  Christian  congre- 
gation may  test,  unconsciously  no  doubt,  the  validity  of 
God's  ordination.  But  even  so  vigilant  provision  is  often 
deconsecrated  by  the  free  action  of  the  spirit.    Such,  in  fact. 


44      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

was  the  result  of  Wilbur's  preaching  that  Sunday  in  Schuy- 
lerville. 

He  so  impressed  the  congregation  upon  his  first  appearance  that 
prompt  decision  was  made  to  instruct  the  Consistory  to  give  him  a 
call.  This  was  very  unusual,  for  in  previous  years  it  had  been  the 
custom  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Schuylerville  to  hear  several 
candidates  and  to  ask  them  to  come  upon  two  or  three  occasions  before 
the  congregation  could  arrive  at  anything  like  a  unanimous  agree- 
ment. 

That  quotation  is  from  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  J.  H. 
De  Ridder,  now  of  New  York,  who  at  that  time  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Consistory  of  the  Schuylerville  Church. 

The  call  was  executed  January  twenty-nine th,  1883,  and 
it  has  appended  to  it,  in  familiar  handwriting,  this: 

Approved  by  Classis  of  Saratoga  at  West  Troy,  Apl.  17/83, 

B.  Fay  Mills,  President. 

The  acceptance  of  such  a  call  meant  much  to  Wilbur;  even 
much  more  than  he  then  realized.  It  meant  the  restoration 
of  a  less-interrupted  fellowship  between  him  and  his  college 
friend. 

Two  men,  so  unlike,  yet  bound  to  each  other  by  the  cords 
of  love  that  nothing  could  sever! 

Before  both  stood  the  gates  that  so  soon  were  to  swing 
open  and  let  them  pass  into  the  boundless  field  of  evangel- 
ism.   There  they  separated. 

Two  trains  may  leave  Chicago  on  parallel  tracks,  but, 
reaching  the  yard  limits,  they  diverge,  one  steaming  toward 
the  Pacific,  the  other  toward  the  Atlantic.  The  steel  rails 
over  which  their  wheels  revolve  determine  their  destination. 

Chapman  and  Mills  thought  and  planned  and  wrought 
together.  They  started  on  parallel  paths.  No  inflexible 
band  of  steel  determined  their  course.    But  their  convic- 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     45 

tions  were  not  the  same.  They  differed  about  things 
fundamental.  It  is  such  inner  spiritual  and  moral  forces 
that  give  direction  to  human  life.  And  such  forces  can 
alone  account  for  the  divergent  roads  that  were  afterward 
traversed  by  those  two  men. 

We  think  loosely  if  we  value  lightly  the  potent  power  of 
moral  and  spiritual  conviction. 

In  accepting  the  call  to  Schuylerville  Wilbur  left  the 
placid,  whispered  flow  of  the  Whitewater,  along  whose  banks 
oxen  patiently  plowed  the  fields,  and  came  to  the  rest- 
less, breathless  surge  and  dash  of  the  upper  Hudson,  whose 
dams  hold  back  a  hundred  storage  lakes  whereby  to  press 
the  paddles  of  a  thousand  wheels  that  they  may  give  power 
to  ten  thousand  paper  rollers  or  to  a  million  spindles,  or 
whose  booms  may  hold  in  duress  the  ten  million  lumber 
measurements.  By  his  coming  Wilbur  entered  into  an  at- 
mosphere strangely  different  from  that  of  his  boyhood  and 
his  first  ministry. 

There  the  Hoosier  tongue  was  spoken  and  on  every  side 
one  might  hear  the  Puritan  "yea"  and  "nay"  mingled  with 
the  quaint  Quaker  expressions  "thee"  and  "thou." 

But  here  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  there  was  to  be 
heard  on  every  side  the  vocabulary  of  the  mart;  not  only 
of  the  little  local  market,  but  of  the  great  centres  of  import 
and  export  where  the  ships  come  in;  where  the  spirit  of 
acquisition  rules  the  day,  and  where  after  the  day  is  over 
the  social  intercourse  is  less  serious  and  more  bent  on  ma- 
terial things. 

He  would  emerge  also  from  one  denomination  into  an- 
other, not  far  apart  in  doctrine,  and  yet  different  in  many 
other  respects.  If  the  call  of  the  Dutch  Church  seems  to  be 
somewhat  austere,  it  is  none  the  less  of  noble  expression 


46      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

and  contains  about  four  or  five  times  as  many  words  as 
that  contained  in  the  call  of  the  churches  from  which  he 
came. 

After  the  Preamble,  which  is  beautifully  engrossed,  it 
may  be  of  interest  to  note  the  usual  form  of  expression: 

Therefore,  we  "The  Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  Reformed  Protes- 
tant Dutch  Church  of  Saratoga  at  Schuylerville"  have  resolved  to 
call,  and  we  hereby  solemnly,  and  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  do  call  you 
the  said  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  to  be  our  pastor  and  teacher,  to  preach 
the  Wofd  in  truth  and  faithfulness,  to  administer  the  holy  Sacraments 
agreeably  to  the  institution  of  Christ,  to  maintain  Christian  discipline, 
to  edify  the  congregation,  and  especially  the  youth,  by  catechetical 
instructions,  and  as  a  faithful  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  fulfil  the 
whole  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry  agreeably  to  the  Word  of  God,  and 
the  excellent  rules  and  Constitution  of  our  Reformed  Dutch  Church, 
established  in  the  last  National  Synod  held  at  Dordrecht,  and  ratified 
and  explained  by  the  ecclesiastical  judicatory,  under  which  we  stand, 
and  to  which  you,  upon  accepting  this  call  must,  with  us,  remain 
subordinate. 

In  fulfilling  the  ordinary  duties  of  your  ministry,  it  is  expressly 
stipulated  that  besides  preaching  upon  such  texts  of  Scriptures  as  you 
may  judge  proper  to  select,  for  our  instruction,  you  also  explain  a 
portion  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  on  the  Lord's  days,  agreeably  to 
the  established  order  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church;  and  that  you 
further  conform  in  rendering  all  that  public  service  which  is  usual,  and 
has  been  in  constant  practice  in  our  congregation. 

That  is  no  small  contract  to  be  placed  into  the  hands 
of  a  young  minister  for  his  signature.  In  the  day  when  first 
expression  was  given  to  the  terms  of  such  a  call  much  was 
required  of  the  minister  however  little  of  responsibility 
may  have  been  assumed  by  the  congregation.  In  more 
modem  days  if,  in  personality  and  preaching,  the  minister 
pleases  the  congregation,  the  terms  of  the  call  may  not  be 
too  seriously  considered.  The  measure  in  which  Dr.  Chap- 
man met  his  responsibility  in  the  Schuylerville  Church 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     47 

is  borne  witness  to  by  Mr.  De  Ridder,  who  has  given  us  the 
following  brief  sketch  of  the  Schuylerville  pastorate: 

Doctor  Chapman  at  once  endeared  himself  to  all  of  his  parishioners, 
and  the  church  services  were  attended  as  never  before  in  its  history. 
He  was  regarded  in  the  community  and  by  many  of  the  neighbouring 
churches  as  the  "  boy  pastor,"  but  his  direct  simplicity,  his  candid  and 
orthodox  preaching,  even  at  that  early  stage,  gave  promise  of  the 
great  preacher  which  he  was  to  be.  It  was  often  remarked  when 
closing  his  sermon  that  the  congregation  had  been  held  spellbound  and 
was  disappointed  that  the  services  had  come  to  an  end.  His  particular 
interest  was  in  the  young  men  of  the  congregation,  and  his  contact  with 
them  was  not  only  from  the  pulpit  and  in  the  church,  but  also  in  their 
homes  and  their  business.  He  was  himself  an  all-around  man  of  a 
congenial  disposition,  ready  to  enter  into  and  discuss  the  general 
affairs  of  the  state  and  community,  yet  particularly  appreciative  of 
the  humorous  incidents  of  life. 

I,  as  a  member  of  the  Consistory  at  that  time,  and  my  family  were 
very  close  to  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Chapman,  both  in  the  church  work  and 
socially  outside  the  church;  thus  I  was  in  his  confidence  and  knew 
the  man  as  well  as  the  preacher. 

For  many  years  prior  to  his  coming  to  Schuylerville  the  church  was 
quite  largely  under  the  control,  material  and  spiritual,  of  a  good  old 
deacon  of  many  years'  standing,  who  always  took  it  upon  himself  to 
censor  and  criticize  the  sermons  and  prayer-meeting  talks  of  the  pastor, 
but  the  tact  displayed  by  Doctor  Chapman  soon  convinced  the  good 
old  deacon  that  his  watchfulness  was  unnecessary,  and  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  members  of  the  church  he  fully  concurred  almost  without 
question  in  the  innovations  that  Doctor  Chapman  made,  with  one 
notable  exception:  the  good  old  deacon  held^that  it  was  almost  a  sin  for 
a  woman  to  speak  in  church,  but  by  the  Doctor's  usual  diplomacy  he 
finally  overcame  this  prejudice,  and  the  deacon  would  commune  with  his 
Maker  though  the  prayer  was  led  by  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  meeting. 

As  was  usually  the  case  in  country  parishes  the  minister  was  obliged 
to  own  a  horse  and  rig  to  enable  him  to  call  upon  members  of  his 
congregation  who  lived  outside  the  limits  of  the  village.  The  Doctor 
attended  this  duty  faithfully,  but  oftentimes  it  was  with  no  little 
personal  discomfort.  On  one  occasion,  a  very  cold  day  in  winter. 
Doctor  Chapman  and  I  drove  nine  miles  through  drifts  of  snow  in 
order  that  the  Doctor  might  address  a  neighbouring  church.  After 
the  services  were  over,  we  were  invited  to  one  of  the  farmhouses  for 


48      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

dinner.  Upon  gathering  around  a  social  board,  and  grace  having 
been  said,  we  were  served  with  a  very  poor  quality  of  picked-up  cod- 
fish and  potatoes  without  dessert.  The  guests  declared  their  appetites 
to  be  very  poor,  and  it  afforded  mueh  merriment  on  our  way  home  dis- 
cussing the  hospitality  which  was  genuine  on  the  part  of  the  farmer 
and  his  family,  but  not  quite  satisfying  to  the  inner  man  after  our 
arduous  journey.  However,  Doctor  Chapman  in  this  case,  as  was 
true  wherever  he  preached,  had  his  full  reward  in  the  spiritual  uplift 
which  those  who  listened  to  him  received.  Even  in  those  early  days 
his  evangelistic  methods  would  arouse  such  a  rehgious  fervour  that  the 
membership  in  and  attendance  at  church  would  show  an  immediate 
increase,  particularly  from  among  the  younger  people  of  the  com- 
munity. 

A  trip  to  New  York  was  taken  by  Doctor  Chapman,  Doctor  Mills, 
then  pastor  in  a  small  neighbouring  village  and  later  an  evangelist  of 
considerable  note,  and  myself.  We  spent  a  week  or  so  in  the  city 
during  which  time  we  visited  the  McAuley  Mission,  and  on  Sunday 
morning  attended  Doctor  Beecher's  Plymouth  Church  Services;  in  the 
afternoon  we  heard  Doctor  John  Thompson  of  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Church,  and  that  evening  Dr.  T.  DeWitt  Talmadge  of  the  Brooklyn 
Tabernacle:  so  that  the  day  was  filled  to  overflowing  with  a  great 
variety  of  ministerial  talent. 

Doctor  and  Mrs.  Chapman  were  both  deeply  interested  in  the  Sun- 
day School  of  the  church.  They  had  classes  and  did  everything  to 
stimulate  and  maintain  the  attendance.  I  now  have  in  my  possession 
a  beautifully  bound  copy  of  an  Oxford  Bible  with  the  inscription  on  the 
fly-leaf  in  Doctor  Chapman's  handwriting  stating  the  donors  who  were 
himself  and  wife  and  other  officers  and  teachers  of  the  Sunday  School. 
This  Bible  was  given  as  a  testimonial  for  the  ten  years'  consecutive 
service  as  superintendent,  and  it  is  now  preserved  as  one  of  the  most 
treasured  gifts  in  my  possession. 

When  Doctor  Chapman  was  called  to  the  First  Reformed  Church  of 
Albany  it  was  over  the  protest  of  every  member  of  his  Schuyler ville 
congregation,  and  when  he  fully  determined  and  did  make  the  change 
to  this  larger  field  of  service,  it  brought  the  deepest  regrets  to  all  and 
tears  to  the  eyes  of  many  of  his  congregation. 

It  is  one  of  my  happiest  recollections  that  on  Sunday,  November 
tenth,  1918,  at  Doctor  Carson's  church  in  Brooklyn,  some  members  of 
my  family  and  myself  heard  Doctor  Chapman,  now  the  great  evange- 
list, preach.    This  was  one  of  his  last  if  not  his  last  sermon.*    Doctor 


•His  last  sermon  was  preached  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Jamaica,  New  York. 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     49 

Chapman,  immediately  after  the  service,  came  down  to  the  pew  where 
we  were  seated  and  stated  that  he  had  recognized  us  from  the  pulpit. 
He  was  as  friendly  and  interested  in  us  and  in  the  news  of  his  old 
parishioners  as  in  the  days  years  ago. 

The  pastorate  at  Schuylerville  was  interrupted  after  two 
years  by  a  call  from  the  First  Reformed  Church  of  Albany 
to  which  in  his  letter  Mr.  De  Ridder  refers. 

The  acceptance  of  this  call  by  Dr.  Chapman  was  the 
cause  of  great  grief  among  the  multitude  of  friends  he  had 
made  during  his  brief  pastorate  at  Schuylerville.  The 
Consistory  of  the  church  called  a  meeting  on  Tuesday, 
March  thirty-first,  1885,  and  expressed  their  deep  and  sin- 
cere appreciation  of  his  work  by  the  adoption  of  a  paper 
as  follows: 

Whereas,  our  Pastor,  Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  has  received  a 
unanimous  call  to  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Reformed  Church  of 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  which  he  is  desirous  of  accepting,  and  with  this  in  view 
has  tendered  his  resignation  as  pastor  of  this  church,  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  such  resignation  be  accepted,  and  that  we,  as  a 
Consistory,  unite  with  him  in  an  application  to  the  Classis  of  Saratoga 
to  dissolve  his  pastoral  relations  with  this  church.  But  we  take  this 
action  with  great  reluctance,  and  only  because  of  the  assurances  we 
have  received  from  him  that  after  careful  and  prayerful  consideration 
of  the  subject,  he  is  impressed  with  the  belief  that  in  this  call  to 
Albany  he  hears  the  call  of  the  Master  to  a  wider  field  of  labour  and 
usefulness,  and  that  it  becomes  his  duty  to  heed  it. 

Resolved,  That  we  desire  to  give  expression  to  our  high  appreciation 
of  Mr.  Chapman's  labours  among  us,  and  the  great  esteem  in  which 
we  hold  him  as  a  citizen,  neighbour,  pastor,  and  friend.  We  have  seen 
during  his  two  years'  pastorate  among  us  the  membership  of  our 
church  increased  by  over  one  hundred,  and  all  departments  of  church 
work — both  spiritual  and  temporal — greatly  improved,  and  attended, 
as  we  believe,  with  a  degree  of  efficiency  and  success  never  exceeded 
in  the  entire  history  of  the  church.  We  cannot,  therefore,  but  deeply 
regret  to  lose  one  who  has  been  able  to  accomplish  so  much  in  the 
brief  time  he  has  been  with  us,  and  who  gives  promise  of  increasing 
usefulness  in  the  future. 


50      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Resolved,  That  we  desire  in  this  connection,  to  recognize  the 
great  assistance  Mrs.  Chapman  has  rendered  in  our  church  work,  and 
the  cheerful  and  earnest  manner  in  which  she  has  cooperated  with  her 
husband  in  promoting  every  good  cause  in  our  midst — social  and 
intellectual,  as  well  as  religious. 

Resolved,  That  if  Classis  shall  dissolve  Mr.  Chapman's  pastoral 
relations  with  this  church,  we  can  heartily  commend  him  to  the  First 
Reformed  Church  of  Albany  as  an  earnest,  able,  and  efficient  Minister 
of  the  Gospel;  and  we  trust,  if  he  shall  accept  their  call,  he  will  there 
find  many  Aarons  and  Hurs  not  only  to  hold  up  his  hands,  but  to  sus- 
tain and  encourage  him  in  all  his  work:  and  we  shall  bid  him  and  his 
God  speed  in  his  new  field  of  labour. 

J.  H.  DeRidder, 
Saml.  Wells, 
P.  C.  Ford, 

Committee. 

The  Classis  of  Saratoga  held  its  meeting  in  the  North 
Reformed  Church  of  West  Troy  on  the  following  day  and 
unanimously  adopted  the  following  resolution: 

That  this  Classis  having  heard  of  the  determination  of  our  brother 
the  Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  to  remove  from  the  bounds  of  this 
Classis:  they  would  hereby  express  their  deep  regret  at  parting  with 
him. 

Resolved:  That  the  deep  affection  of  this  body  will  accompany  our 
brother  to  his  new  field  of  labour;  and  it  is  our  earnest  prayer  that  the 
blessing  of  God  may  crown  his  efforts  there  with  great  success:  and 
that  he  may  long  live  to  advance  the  Kingdom  of  our  blessed  Saviour. 

Done  in  Classis  this  1st  day  of  April,  1885. 

J.  Paschal  Strong 

Stated  Clerk. 

The  transition  from  a  rural  to  a  metropolitan  parish 
com'monly  calls  for  a  revised  programme  of  pulpit  and  pas- 
toral service.    The  two  worlds  are  poles  apart. 

The  Reverend  Sylvester  F.  Scovel,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  a  man 
of  unusual  culture,  for  seventeen  years  a  minister  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  Pittsburgh,  later  the  President 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     51 

of  Wooster  University,  Ohio,  once  made  this  epigrammatic 
statement:  *'When  I  am  asked  to  preach  in  a  city  pulpit,  I 
wear  my  best  coat;  but  when  I  am  asked  to  fill  a  country 
pulpit,  I  always  take  my  best  sermon." 

In  either  place  human  nature  is  the  same;  but  the  prob- 
lems, social,  economic,  and  ecclesiastical,  are  different  and 
more  complex.  These  problems  are  acute,  too,  proportion- 
ate to  the  consequence  of  the  city  and  the  dominance  of  the 
church. 

Albany,  the  capital  of  New  York,  the  empire  state,  built 
compactly  upon  her  three  hills,  is  no  mean  city;  and,  con- 
current with  the  founding  of  it,  the  Dutch  Church,  **  located 
where  the  Market  intercepts  the  Green,  and  the  belfry 
plumb  in  the  middle  of  the  church,"  was,  and  continued  to 
be,  a  centre  of  constraining  moral  influence. 

They  take  mutual  pride  in  the  descriptive  phrase — *'an 
ancient  city,  and  an  historic  church." 

As  early  as  1614  there  was  at  Fort  Orange,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson,  a  Dutch  trading-post,  and  five  years  later, 
in  1619,  there  is  record  of  the  "ministry  of  the  Word" 
through  one  Sebastean  Crol,  who  is  described  as  "a  devout, 
enterprising,  and  .prudent"  business  agent  of  the  Patroon 
Killian  Van  Rensselaer.  Yet  in  1642  Van  Rensselaer  ap- 
plied to  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam,  in  Holland,  for  "a  good, 
honest,  and  pure  preacher"  for  his  American  colony.  In 
response  the  Reverend  Johannes  Megapolensis  of  the  Classis 
of  Alkmayer,  Holland,  was  sent  over  "to  disseminate  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Christians  and  Heathen." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  "cost  of  living"  had  not 
at  that  time  reached  its  present  burdensome  magnitude. 
Dr.  Megapolensis  was  promised  an  annual  salary  "of  four 
hundred  dollars,  twenty-two  and  a  half  bushels  of  wheat, 


52      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

and  two  firkins  of  butter/'  By  this  modest  stipend  he  was 
supposed  to  be  set  free  from  "worldly  cares  and  avocations," 
and  to  care  for  a  wife  and  four  children  who  had  come  from 
Holland  with  him.  The  cash  was  afterward  raised  to 
four  hundred  and  eighty  dollars.  The  Patroon  also  ordered 
that  a  house  should  be  built  for  him;  but  Van  Curler, 
the  Patroon's  thrifty  commissary — instead  of  building — 
"bought  for  the  manse  at  a  gross  outlay  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  dollars  a  newly  built  house  of  oak,"  which  was 
also  formally  dedicated  as  a  place  of  worship. 

After  four  years  a  church  building  was  erected,  34  feet  x 
19,  at  a  cost  of  thirty-two  dollars,  including  a  pulpit. 

The  humble  homes  of  the  settlers  were  clustered  close 
around  the  little  fort  down  by  the  river  bank;  but  in  1654  a 
freshet  swept  away  the  larger  part  of  the  fort,  the  church, 
and  some  houses,  and  so  the  town  moved  up  a  little  along 
the  strand,  and  again  church  and  fort  became  its  centre. 
But  in  this  instance  the  two  constructions,  one  for  peace, 
the  other  for  war,  were  combined  in  one  building.  The 
church  was  loop-holed  for  musket-fire,  and  three  cannon 
were  mounted  in  its  gallery.  It  is  referred  to  as  "  the  block- 
house church." 

In  1715,  the  congregation  having  greatly  increased,  a  new 
church  building,  its  architectural  features  following  very 
much  those  of  the  blockhouse,  but  built  of  stone  and  of 
greater  capacity,  was  erected  around  about  and  enclosing 
the  old  building  and  without  interrupting  the  stated  services. 
On  the  completion  of  the  outer  walls,  the  old  blockhouse 
was  taken  to  pieces  and  passed  out  through  the  doors 
and  windows  of  the  new — from  that  time  known  as  "The 
Stone  Church."  For  this  imposing  structure  there  was 
imported  from  Holland  a  "pulpit,"  still  preserved  as  a 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     53 

cherished  if  not  sacred  relic,  from  which  the  Word  was 
preached  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

The  present  church  building  was  projected  in  1797.  The 
cornerstone  was  laid  on  the  twelfth  of  June  that  year,  and 
the  building  was  dedicated  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  Janu- 
ary, 1799.  This  was  the  stately  edifice  wherein  the  young 
preacher  from  Schuylerville  was  called  to  minister. 

On  invitation  he  had  preached  in  Albany.  Then  the 
proverbially  slow-moving  Dutchman,  on  Monday,  before  he 
could  get  out  of  the  city,  cautiously  inquired  if  he  would 
look  with  favour  upon  a  call.  Being  encouraged  by  him, 
the  call  was  officially  executed  Thursday,  March  nineteenth, 
1885,  and  on  Sunday,  May  third,  he  entered  upon  his  new 
pastorate. 

With  antecedents  thus  recent  and  remote,  and  all  most 
honourable;  and  the  distinction,  then  unprecedented  in  this 
country,  of  having  twin  steeples  flanking  its  Eastern  fagade, 
it  is  perhaps  not  surprising  that  rude  boys  should  vulgarly 
dub  the  church  "the  double  Dutch";  or  that  the  young 
preacher  himself  should  have  with  some  awe  spoken  of  it  as 
"one  of  the  most  conservative  and  aristocratic  churches  in 
the  state." 

It  still  adhered  to  the  Heidelberg  formularies,  with  the  old 
Holland  order  of  service,  as  well  as  to  much  of  traditional 
sentiment.  At  one  time  a  decision  was  reached  to  abolish 
the  setting  forth  of  the  Lord's  Supper  upon  a  table  the  full 
length  of  the  middle  aisle,  about  which  table  on  benches  it 
was  the  custom  of  the  communicants  to  be  seated.  But 
the  decision — out  of  a  sincere  reluctance  to  depart  from  the 
"tradition  of  the  elders" — ^was  postponed  from  one  period 
to  another  and  never  enforced. 

It  was  certainly  a  strange  atmosphere  for  an  aggressive 


54      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

youth,  instinct  with  an  aggressive  Gospel,  and,  if  he  did 
not  proceed  with  great  discretion,  fraught  with  no  little 
peril.  With  a  fine  intuition  that  ever  so  characterized  him, 
he  conformed  to  all  customs  and  quietly  went  about  to 
create  for  himself  a  new  constituency.  His  influence  and 
power  over  young  men  seemed  almost  weird  and  uncanny. 
It  was  mysterious.  Nothing  like  it  had  ever  before  been 
seen  in  the  church.  Young  men  by  the  irresistible  attrac- 
tion of  his  personality  were  drawn  to  him.  Together  they 
went  in  companies  of  a  dozen  or  more  to  the  smaller  churches 
in  the  country  towns  near  by,  to  Feura-bush,  Bethlehem, 
New  Scotland,  Nassau,  and  other  places,  in  order  to  hold 
evangelistic  meetings;  not  only  to  encourage  the  local 
pastors  in  these  small  churches,  but  also — what  was  of 
greater  moment — to  declare  the  peril  of  the  unsaved  and  to 
win  them  to  faith  and  to  the  acceptance  of  Christ.  Later 
on  we  find  these  same  young  men,  at  his  suggestion,  banded 
together  and  paying  for  twelve  pews  in  the  gallery  and  under 
agreement  to  keep  these  pews  filled  with  young  men  not 
attending  other  churches.  The  contract  was  fulfilled  to 
the  letter,  and  many  of  these  stragglers  thus  brought  in  were 
won  for  Christ,  and  their  names  to-day  stand  high  in  the 
activities  of  that  and  of  other  churches. 

About  this  same  time,  so  we  are  informed  by  Miss  Anna 
Spelman,  sending  this  information  from  Albany,  there  oc- 
curred a  most  significant  incident.  Mr.  Mills,  then  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  Church  in  West  Rutland,  Vermont, 
and  just  beginning  his  great  career  as  an  evangelist,  was 
passing  through  Albany.  Having  an  hour  to  spare,  in 
making  railway  connections,  he  had  wired  his  friend  to  meet 
him.  Wilbur  at  a  meeting  for  men  spoke  of  his  coming 
and  recommended  that  they  hear  him.    Mills  was  met  at 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     55 

the  station  and  brought  to  the  meeting,  and  the  men  were 
so  impressed  with  his  message  and  manner  that  later  they 
decided  to  ask  him  to  come  to  Albany  and  conduct  a  series 
of  evangehstic  meetings.  Mr.  Mills  accepted  the  invita- 
tion and  was  there  for  two  weeks  when  he  was  obliged  to 
leave  to  fulfil  another  engagement.  The  services  had  been 
well  attended,  but  there  was  not  a  single  conversion.  Wil- 
bur was  heart-broken.  ''Why  is  it?"  he  said.  ''What 
shall  we  do?" — and  his  enthusiastic  band  of  young  men 
replied— "Let  us  continue!"  "But,"  said  he,  "What 
evangelist  can  we  get?"  With  a  hearty  spontaneity  they 
said,  "You!"  He  told  them  that  he  had  never  done  any- 
thing like  that  and  shrank  from  it.  But  they  insisted  that 
he  could  do  it,  that  nobody  could  do  it  better,  and  that  he 
could  not  begin  too  soon.  After  some  hesitation,  his  re- 
sponse— so  characteristic  of  his  whole  career — was,  "Let 
us  make  it  a  subject  of  special  prayer.  You  all  have  on 
your  hearts  men  that  are  not  Christians.  Let  us  pray 
definitely  for  individuals."  So  they  began  in  special  inter- 
cession, and  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  manifested, 
and  great  numbers  both  of  men  and  women  made  confession 
of  their  faith  in  Christ,  and  united  with  the  church.  Among 
them  were  many  of  the  older  and  prominent  men  and  women 
of  the  congregation,  and  of  the  unsaved  among  that  band 
of  young  men  not  one  failed  to  accept  Christ.  The  Albany 
people  take  some  pride  in  referring  to  these  meetings  as 
the  beginning  of  his  evangelistic  career.    Another  relates: 

That  aristocratic  congregation  had  an  atmosphere  only  less  alien 
to  the  fervour  of  evangelism  than  the  North  Pole.  Mr.  Chapman 
tried  to  turn  his  Sunday  night  service  to  evangelistic  account,  but  at 
first  without  success.  The  church  sang  the  old  stately  hymns  of 
Calvinism,  and  they  were  psychologically  bad  for  an  evangehstic 


56      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

spirit.  They  lulled  and  soothed,  they  did  not  spur  and  quicken.  Mr. 
Chapman  might  preach  his  hearers  into  penitence  and  a  concern  for 
their  souls,  but  the  very  hymn  of  invitation  would  chill  them  into 
apathy.  He  tried  to  introduce  a  supply  of  Gospel  Hymn  Books  to  the 
pews,  but  the  venerable  and  dignified  Consistory  sat  upon  the  project 
with  sudden  and  icy  vigour.  Then  the  young  minister  told  his  troubles 
to  D.  L.  Moody.  Moody  was  a  master  of  strategy  when  dealing  with 
the  spiritually  torpid;  he  said;  "Print  one  or  two  Gospel  Hymns  on 
cards  and  slip  them  into  the  pews;  then  have  your  choir  or  soloist  sing 
one  of  them." 

Chapman  tried  it.  His  first  venture  was  with:  "Ring  the  bells  of 
heaven;  there  is  joy  to-day.  For  a  soul  returning  from  the  wild." 

The  elder  who  had  most  firmly  opposed  the  Gospel  Hymn  project 
took  up  the  card  and  followed  the  song  through,  while  tears  trickled 
down  his  cheeks. 

"Where — where  did  you  get  that  wonderful,  wonderful  song?"  he 
asked,  with  a  voice  still  trembling  with  emotion,  when  the  service  was 
over. 

"From  the  book  of  Gospel  Hymns,"  said  Chapman,  innocently. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Consistory  the  embargo  on  the  Gospel 
Hymns  was  removed  and  it  was  the  same  old  elder  who  made  the 
motion. 

Wilbur  had  never  forgotten  the  great  evangelist  through 
whom  he  had  been  brought  into  the  certainty  of  salvation, 
and  now  there  was  formed  between  them  an  attachment 
that  continued  without  a  break  through  life.  In  great 
evangelistic  meetings  they  were  often  together,  and  Wilbur 
never  failed  to  pay  affectionate  tribute  to  his  illustrious 
friend  by  whose  encouragement  he  had  been  so  helped  in 
his  earlier  and  formative  years. 

For  a  long  time  he  had  been  independent  of  outside  help, 
and  was  now  established  in  a  home  of  his  own.  Into  that 
home,  on  the  first  of  April,  1886,  there  was  bom  a  daughter 
to  whom  was  given  the  name — Bertha  Irene.  To  this 
daughter  there  came  also  by  inheritance  from  both  parents 
a  voice  of  alluring  quality  and  of  irresistible  influence,  des- 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     57 

tined  to  awaken  many  a  conscience,  and  to  lead  sinners  in 
tears  of  contrition  to  Christ.  In  after  years,  in  great  evan- 
gelistic meetings  conducted  by  her  father,  she  sang  with  a 
sweetness  of  tone,  a  power  of  expression  surpassing  any 
that  we  have  ever  heard,  and  peculiarly  with  a  distinctness 
of  articulation  in  every  syllable,  the  words  reaching  the 
mind  as  her  music  did  the  heart. 

The  days  following  the  birth  of  the  child  were  of  alternat- 
ing hope  and  terror.  In  less  than  a  month  the  blow  fell. 
The  mother,  more  necessary  now  than  ever,  was  called 
into  the  presence  of  her  Lord. 

Only  they  that  know  can  understand.  God  knew  and 
understood.  The  testing  was  not  to  be  without  its  recom- 
pense. Nor  in  that  solemn  hour  was  he  to  be  left  alone. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Steddom  were  there,  and  their  presence  was  of 
the  greatest  comfort.  Mr.  Steddom  himself  was  an  invalid, 
and  not  long  after  his  daughter's  death  he  was  called  to  be 
with  her  in  the  home  above. 

Mrs.  Steddom  says:  "The  kindness  of  Wilbur  while  in 
his  home  at  Albany  will  never  be  forgotten.  I  have  the 
greatest  admiration  for  his  character  and  his  home  life. 
I  remained  with  him  eight  months  until  my  husband's 
death.  He  was  kind  and  thoughtful  for  our  comfort  in 
every  way,  and  since  my  widowhood  has  been  my  best 
friend,  making  my  declining  years  more  comfortable  and 
happy." 

Mrs.  Steddom  soon  after  her  husband's  death  returned 
to  the  scenes  of  her  early  life  at  Greenway  Farm,  Indiana; 
and  the  young  minister  was  alone  with  his  motherless 
babe. 

Some  ten  years  before,  when  Dr.  Rufus  Clark  was  pastor 
of  the  church,   Henry  Moorhouse  had  been  preaching 


58      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

nightly  in  Albany  but  with  no  apparent  result.  Three 
women,  Mrs.  Clark,  Mrs.  Kirk,  and  Mrs.  Strain,  met  daily 
at  noon  in  the  Dutch  Church  to  pray.  In  answer  to  their 
prayer  there  was  a  wonderful  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  literally  thousands  were  brought  to  a  confession 
of  Christ,  and  united  with  various  churches  throughout 
the  city. 

Of  the  three  "elect  ladies,"  through  whose  intercession 
the  blessing  came,  Mrs.  Agnes  Pruyn  Strain  was  destined 
to  a  place  of  preeminence.  She  was  one  of  the  most  gifted 
Bible  teachers  of  her  generation,  a  woman  of  great  personal 
magnetism,  of  keen  spiritual  perception,  and  worthy  of  the 
esteem  and  honour  in  which  she  was  held  by  multitudes  en- 
riched spiritually  by  her  teaching. 

It  was  inevitable  that  so  notable  a  woman  could  not  long 
remain  unknown  to  the  earnest  and  progressive  young 
preacher  that  had  come  to  her  city.  They  met  in  1886. 
Twelve  years  later,  the  year  of  her  death.  Dr.  Chapman 
said  of  her:  " She  was  a  most  remarkable  woman.  To  have 
known  her  at  all  was  a  privilege,  but  to  know  her  as  it  was 
my  opportunity  to  do  was  one  of  the  rare  blessings  of  a 
lifetime.  Her  home  life  was  most  beautiful,  especially  to 
those  of  us  who  saw  her  constantly  and  under  the  influence 
of  every  trial  and  joy  that  could  come  to  one  in  a  home.  Her 
room  was  the  centre  of  attraction.  To  see  her  face  glow  as 
we  talked  with  her,  to  hear  her  ringing  laugh,  which  we  can 
never  forget,  to  feel  the  uplift  of  her  great  soul,  was  to  put 
sunshine  into  a  whole  day." 

Her  life  and  teaching  were  of  far-reaching  influence  and 
of  priceless  worth.  The  writer,  and  many  another  minister, 
shall  cherish  her  memory  forever,  in  the  recognition  of  a 
debt  that  can  never  be  paid. 


THE  WHITEWATER  AND  THE  HUDSON     59 

Mrs.  Strain  had  three  gifted  daughters,  Mary,  Agnes,  and 
Helen. 

Mary  became  the  wife  of  a  distinguished  and  devoted 
minister  of  Christ,  Marcus  A.  Brovmson,  now  pastor  of  the 
Tenth  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia. 

Helen  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  her  grandmother  and 
became  a  missionary  to  Japan. 

Agnes  took  to  her  heart  the  motherless  child  and  was 
wedded  to  him  who  in  this  gift  from  God  received  the  rec- 
ompense of  sorrow. 

In  an  historic  sermon  delivered  by  the  Reverend  Edward 
P.  Johnson,  D.D.,  on  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  the  Church,  there  is  given  to  Dr.  Chapman  this  fine 
tribute: 

He  came  to  his  work  in  all  the  glowing  fervour  of  a  strong,  lofty 
faith,  and  a  warm,  consecrated  heart.  Great  and  blessed  changes  soon 
began.  The  new  pastor's  fertile  ingenuity,  his  resolute  determination 
to  be  heard  in  this  place  by  the  masses,  his  mysterious  power  over 
young  men,  his  gentle  imperiousness  which  controlled  all  about  him, 
above  all  his  insatiable  longing  for  the  salvation  of  souls  and  his 
mighty  faith  in  Christ  and  the  Book  of  God,  made  him  heard  and 
made  him  believed,  and  so  the  old  church  began  to  rejoice  once  more 
and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

Only  four  years  and  nine  months  he  served  as  pastor;  but  they  were 
memorable  years  that  speak  in  deep,  convincing  voice  of  great  work 
done,  and  of  the  power  and  demonstration  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Young 
as  he  was  even  when  he  left  here  (Albany),  his  ministry  had  been 
sealed  with  such  a  plentiful  blessing  from  on  high  that  with  an  average 
increase  of  one  hundred  a  year  this  church  had  grown  and  flourished- 
By  more  of  our  church  members  than  any  other — perhaps  all — of  his 
predecessors  is  he  regarded  with  the  tender  and  grateful  affection  given 
to  one's  first  pastor. 

Dr.  Chapman  announced  his  resignation  on  Sunday 
morning,  February  second,  1890. 


60       J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Consistory  held  three  days  later, 
February  fifth,  the  following  minute  was  unanimously 
adopted  and  entered  upon  the  records: 

The  Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  entered  upon  the  pastorate  of  this 
church,  May  third,  1885,  and  continued  therein  till  February  second, 
1890. 

During  this  pastorate  nearly  five  hundred  members  have  been  added 
to  our  communion,  and  all  of  the  interests  of  this  Zion  have  been 
greatly  strengthened  and  advanced. 

We  record  at  this  time  our  sense  of  his  sincere,  unaffected  piety,  his 
soundness  and  purity  of  doctrine,  his  clearness  of  thought  and  felicity 
of  illustration,  his  breadth  of  view  and  catholicity  of  spirit,  his  pro- 
found interest  in  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  his  earnest  presentation  of 
Gospel  truth  as  the  great  need  of  mankind. 

As  an  ambassador  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  was  faithful  to  his 
trust,  and  his  labours  have  been  abundantly  crowned  by  God's  bless- 
ing. 

Few  ministers  of  the  Gospel  have  had  greater  power  over  young  men 
than  he,  as  shown  by  the  large  number  who  have  accepted  Christ  under 
his  ministry,  and  now  constitute  an  important  part  of  our  membership. 

While  we  part  with  our  beloived  Pastor  with  feelings  of  deepest  re- 
gret we  rejoice  to  know  that  his  faithful  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Re- 
deemer's Kingdom  will  be  continued  in  another  and  important  part  of 
the  Master's  vineyard. 

We  affectionately  commend  him  to  the  church  whose  call  he  has 
accepted,  with  the  earnest  prayer  that  God  will  render  him  eminently 
useful  in  his  new  field  of  labour. 

Stephen  B.  Griswold, 

President,  pro  tern. 
J.  H.  Groot, 

Clerk. 


CHAPTER  V 

PHILADELPHIA  AND  NEW  YORK 

Penn's  Woods,  now  known  as  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  once  the  property  of  that  doughty  but  illustrious 
Quaker,  William  Penn,  who  inherited  from  his  father  a 
claim  of  £18,000  against  the  English  Crown. 

In  1681,  as  Lord  Proprietor,  he  took  possession  of  his 
princely  domain  and  founded  the  City  of  Philadelphia  on  a 
narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  Schuylkill  and  Delaware 
rivers. 

As  the  population  multiplied,  there  was  a  section  of  the 
city,  in  the  region  between  Broad  Street  and  the  Schuylkill 
River  and  below  South  Street,  that  had  degenerated  into  a 
wilderness  of  brick  yards,  and  had  been  set  apart  as  the  city 
dump,  garnished  with  ash  and  refuse  heaps,  the  output 
of  decadent  rookeries  that  were  inhabited  by  a  band  of 
ruffians  who  because  of  their  evil  deeds  had  come  to  be 
known  as  "the  Schuylkill  Rangers."  These  outlaws,  with- 
out the  chivalry  that  characterized  the  historic  ''knights  of 
the  wood,"  were  both  fearless  and  godless  and  by  their 
predatory  incursions  had  become  a  source  of  unending  terror 
and  distress  to  neighbouring  decent  and  law-abiding  citizens. 

With  the  hope  of  transforming  this  plague  spot  into  some- 
thing like  the  Garden  of  Eden  there  came  into  it  one  Sunday 
morning  two  young  men  from  the  Chambers  Church.  Their 
evangel  was  received  with  blows  and  curses  and  they  left 
the  field  defeated  but  not  discouraged.    The  names  of  the 

61 


62       J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

young  men  were  Toland  and  Wanamaker,  the  latter  then 
unknown  to  fame  but  afterward  to  become  a  man  of  im- 
mense wealth,  conspicuous  as  a  churchman,  merchant,  and 
politician,  and  finding  it  difficult,  doubtless,  to  blend  these 
various  distinctions  into  harmonious  unity. 

The  following  Sunday,  February  seventeenth,  1858, 
these  intrepid  youths  returned  and,  in  a  little  upper  room, 
2135  South  Street,  established  "the  Chambers  Mission." 

Tradition  has  it  that  the  meeting  was  not  without  inter- 
ruption, but  that  the  "dogs  and  sorcerors"  were  ultimately 
routed,  and  the  two  young  men,  together  with  seventeen 
women  and  children,  continued  the  singing  of  hymns  and 
£he  study  of  the  Bible  until  the  home-going  hour. 

With  all  opposition  overcome  the  school  grew  with  wonder- 
ful rapidity.  There  were  not  enough  chaii-s,  and  the  land- 
lord, who  received  a  rental  of  five  dollars  a  month  for  the 
room,  brought  up  from  the  cellar  bricks  as  seats  for  the 
children.  In  less  than  five  months  more  ample  accommoda- 
tions were  necessary.  An  old  man  named  Oberteuffer, 
generally  too  timid  to  speak  in  meeting,  "tremulously 
suggested"  that  a  tent  be  raised  upon  an  adjoining  lot. 
The  week  following  he  begged  from  longshoremen  and 
sailors  enough  old  sail  to  make  a  tent  to  shelter  four  hundred 
people,  and  on  the  twelfth  day  of  July  the  tent  was  raised 
above  the  levelled  ash  heaps.  The  crowds  came.  Not 
merely  the  tent  but  the  whole  lot  was  filled.  From  an  old 
white  pulpit,  from  which  John  Chambers  had  often  preached, 
the  Word  of  God  was  sounded  forth  and  the  bread  of  life  ad- 
ministered to  the  multitude.  To  the  new  mission  was  given 
the  name  of  Bethany,  in  memory  doubtless  of  the  little 
Judean  village  of  Mary  and  Martha,  to  which  as  the  ap- 
pointed place  of  His  Ascension  Jesus  led  His  disciples,  and 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  NEW  YORK  63 

where,  in  parting  benediction,  ''He  lifted  up  his  hands  and 
blessed  them." 

When  the  cold  weather  came,  and  the  tent  useless,  the 
mission  moved  to  the  passenger  station  of  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroad.  Later  a  public  school  building,  at 
Twenty-third  and  Lombard  streets,  was  used,  and  within 
one  year  of  its  inception,  on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of 
January,  1859,  the  school  had  a  substantial  chapel,  with 
twenty-seven  teachers  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-four 
scholars.  From  this  mission  Bethany  Church  was  organ- 
ized on  September  twenty-sixth,  1875,  by  Rev.  Samuel  T. 
Lowrie,  D.D.,  together  with  one  elder,  and  a  membership 
of  twenty.  In  less  than  a  decade  it  possessed  a  fine  school 
building  to  which,  in  1874,  was  added  the  great  church 
edifice,  the  two  covering  almost  an  acre,  costing  two  hun- 
dred and  fourteen  thousand  dollars,  with  a  seating  capacity 
of  four  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty. 
,  This  noble  building  was  and  is  a  monument  to  the  humble 
people  by  whose  sacrificial  offerings  it  was  erected.  Jewels 
and  precious  keepsakes  and  hard-earned  wages  were  alike 
and  freely  given.  A  little  girl,  Nellie  Hurst,  whose  name 
became  inseparable  with  the  building  because  of  what  she 
did,  picked  up  and  sold  some  old  bones,  devoting  the  pro- 
ceeds, amounting  to  one  dollar,  to  the  enterprise.  It  was 
her  example  that  stimulated  generosity  that  resulted  in 
the  completion  of  the  tower. 

The  new  church  was  a  veritable  hive  of  amazing  industry 
and  boundless  enthusiasm.  Year  after  year  there  was  a 
steady  increase  in  spiritual  power  and  growth  in  member- 
ship. Dr.  Lowrie  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  J.  R.  Miller,  and 
he  in  turn  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  James  B.  Dunn.  In  1884 
began  the  five-year  pastorate  of  Dr.  Arthur  T.  Pierson,  one 


64       J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

of  the  greatest  of  Bible  teachers,  whose  faithful  and  effi- 
cient labours  resulted  in  great  ingatherings  and  prepared 
the  soil  for  more  abundant  harvests. 

Such  was  the  splendid  organization  to  which,  as  the  suc- 
cessor to  Dr.  Pierson,  Dr.  Chapman  came.  He  came  with 
the  spiritual  fervour  that  had  kindled  the  fires  of  revival 
amidst  the  damps  of  conservatism  and  was  therefore  pre- 
eminently prepared  to  take  up  and  continue  the  spiritual 
work  already  in  progress.  He  came  with  his  fresh  enthusi- 
asm, and  with  the  abilities  of  a  matured  manhood.  He 
was  received  with  cordial  good  will,  and  with  anticipation 
of  a  great  spiritual  appeal.  He  began  at  once  an  evangelis- 
tic campaign,  and  the  first  winter-  of  his  pastorate  ended 
with  special  services  designed  to  reach  the  unsaved.  The 
church  grew  with  marvellous  rapidity.  Within  two  years 
eleven  hundred  members,  more  than  half  of  them  men, 
were  added.  At  a  single  communion  three  hundred  and 
thirty  people  were  received. 

Institutional  features,  under  the  spiritual  direction  of  the 
pastor  together  with  the  warm-hearted  cooperation  of  Mr. 
Wanamaker,  assumed  importance  and  attracted  wide  at- 
tention. A  Chapter  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and 
Philip  was  organized  numbering  three  hundred  members, 
meeting  every  Sunday  morning  for  Bible  reading  and  de- 
votional service.  This  exerted  a  profound  spiritual  influence 
upon  the  men  of  the  entire  community.  Bethany  Home, 
with  its  hospital  and  its  industrial  bureau,  was  established 
and  provision  was  made  for  the  sick  and  unemployed. 
Then  came  Bethany  College,  offering  to  young  people  of 
limited  means  an  education  in  a  great  variety  of  branches, 
English,  Elocution,  Physical  Culture,  Physical  Geography, 
German,  French,  Latin,  Painting,  Drawing,  Architecture, 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  NEW  YORK  65 

and  Mechanics.  In  the  Industrial  Department  dress- 
making and  domestic  science  were  taught.  A  tuition  fee 
of  one  or  two  dollars  was  charged  for  a  whole  winter  term. 
Fifty  scholarships  were  open  to  competition.  Intense 
activity  evoked  the  full  powers  of  the  minister  in  charge. 
Reminiscences  of  these  years  record  enthusiastically  the 
pastor's  services,  his  unusual  power  with  men,  his  never- 
failing  friendliness,  his  positive  and  comprehensive  preach- 
ing, his  extraordinary  genius  for  organization,  and  the  un- 
precedented result  of  his  manifold  labours. 

He  continued  until  the  fall  of  1892  when,  under  the  ur- 
gent pressure  of  continuous  calls  coming  from  the  outside 
for  evangelistic  work,  he  was  constrained  to  put  his  letter  of 
resignation  in  the  hands  of  the  Session.  To  his  letter  the 
Session  replied  on  the  sixteenth  day  of  October,  in  a  Minute 
covering  nine  points,  wherein  they  declared :  "  The  Session 
is  not  able  to  see  their  way  clear  to  recommend  to  the 
congregation  the  acceptance  of  the  resignation,"  and  that, 
"they  must  leave  to  the  preacher  and  Presbytery  the 
decision  of  the  question  of  separation."  A  copy  of  this 
urgent  protest,  with  the  assurance  of  continued  love  and 
esteem,  was  sent  to  Dr.  Chapman  and  signed  by  sixteen 
elders  and  attested  by  the  clerk.  The  pressure  brought 
upon  him  to  remain  kept  the  resignation  in  abeyance  for 
some  weeks  and  then,  under  a  solemn  sense  that  he  must 
respond  to  the  earnest  appeals  from  the  field,  Dr.  Chapman 
was  released  and  entered  upon  a  period  of  evangelistic 
work. 

He  continued  in  this  work  for  more  than  three  years, 
until  December,  1895,  Vv^hen,  on  the  second  day  of  that 
month,  an  enthusiastic  meeting  of  the  congregation  of 
Bethany  church  was  held  to  extend  to  him  a  second  call. 


66      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

A  wire  was  sent  to  him  at  Fort  Wayne: 

Largest  congregational  meeting  Bethany  ever  held.  Elected  you 
pastor  to-night  unanimously.  The  Moderator,  Session,  and  members 
now  assembled,  send  you  salutations  and  congratulations  and  beg  you 
to  telegraph  before  Sabbath,  if  possible,  your  acceptance. 

Samuel  T.  Lowrie,  Moderator. 

Robert  Brown,  Clerk. 

Notwithstanding  the  unanimity  of  the  call  and  earnest- 
ness with  which  it  was  pressed,  he  felt  constrained  to 
decline  it,  to  the  distress  of  a  great  multitude  of  friends  in 
the  church. 

Several  conferences  with  the  people  followed,  and  after 
three  weeks  of  consideration  he  reversed  his  decision  and 
accepted  the  call.  He  notified  Mr.  Wanamaker  by  tele- 
gram and  letter  to  which  he  received  this  reply: 

Philadelphia,  24th  Dec,  1895. 
My  dear  Pastor: 

I  write  this  with  great  thankfulness  to  God.  Your  telegram  and 
letter  found  me  in  the  midst  of  efforts  to  arrange  the  strike  between 
4,500  street  car  men  and  their  employers.  A  happy  conclusion  came 
last  night  and  to-day  the  city  breathes  again  in  peace.  Your  decision 
brings  not  only  satisfaction  but  devout  joy.  Will  you  not  come  direct 
to  Jenkintown  and  stay  with  me?  We  can  get  home  Sunday  night  by 
a  train  10 :15.  You  might  meet  at  supper  your  three  colleagues  and  we 
could  have  a  good  talk  together,  but  of  this  I  will  say  nothing  until  I 
hear  from  you. 

The  outlook  is  brighter  and  brighter  for  the  forward  movement  of 
church  evangelism.  Every  nerve  of  Bethany  throbs  with  hopeful 
expectation  of  enlarged  usefulness.  Scores  and  hundreds  will  be 
happy  helpers  and  happy  heaven  will  be  happier  for  the  joy  over  souls 
saved  through  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

Will  you  assure  Mrs.  Chapman  of  the  gladness  of  our  people  for  her 
return  and  how  sure  I  am  that  she  can  count  on  Mrs.  Wanamaker  as 
well  as  myself  for  all  that  is  in  our  power  to  minister  to  her  happiness. 

With  all  my  heart  a  sweet  Christmas  to  you  all. 

Yours  faithfully, 

John  Wanamaker. 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  NEW  YORK  67 

Rev.  George  F.  Van  Deurs,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  D.  Thompson,  and 
Rev.  Dr.  Chas.  A.  Dickey  had  been  unanimously  elected  as 
the  associate  ministers— a  plan  conceived  by  the  Senior 
Elder— "hoping  thereby  to  make  our  beloved  Bethany 
more  like  the  Garden  of  Eden  from  which  issued  four 
riverheads  to  in-igate  and  refresh  not  only  the  Garden  but 
the  adjacent  country  with  living  water." 

During  the  years  that  followed  multitudinous  forms  of 
work  were  carried  on  through  a  most  efficient  institutional 
organism.  Systematic  methods  were  adopted.  A  be- 
wildering ramification  of  institutional  work  centred  in  the 
office  of  the  pastor.  Every  device  known  for  the  expedition 
of  business  was  secured.  The  church  was  a  veritable  bee- 
hive of  activity.  Streams  of  people  might  be  seen  daily 
upon  their  various  errands  passing  through.  The  total 
Sunday  attendance  in  all  departments  reached  to  twelve 
thousand.  Bethany,  at  the  time,  in  the  number  of  its 
membership,  stood  at  the  front  of  its  denomination. 

Such  phenomenal  progress  arrested  the  attention  of  the 
Church  at  large.  Other  churches  coveted  his  services. 
Among  these  was  the  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
City  of  New  York.  This  gi^eat  church,  boasting  of  an 
honourable  antiquity,  had  its  origin  in  a  written  covenant, 
still  preserved,  dated  July  fifteenth,  1779,  signed  by  six 
men  constituting  themselves  into  a  ''prayer  circle."  Four 
years  later,  in  the  fall  of  1783,  there  arrived  from  Scotland  a 
young  probationer,  Thomas  Beveridge,  who  is  spoken  of 
as  "pious  and  learned."  Young  Beveridge  discovered  the 
prayer  circle  and  proceeded  to  constitute  from  it,  in  the 
spring  of  1785,  "The  First  Associate  Presbyterian  Church." 
This  new  enterprise  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  new 
world  something  of  those  stubborn  ecclesiastical  controver- 


68      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

sies  that  had  rent  the  Church  of  Scotland .  Tlirough  various 
vicissitudes  the  church  continued  until  June,  1853,  when  it 
became  a  part  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  For 
nearly  half  a  century  the  church  prospered  under  the 
blessing  of  God  and  then,  without  warning,  there  broke 
upon  it  a  disaster  that  threatened  its  very  existence.  In 
those  days  of  her  bitter  trial  there  were  strong  men  in  the 
Session  and  on  the  governing  boards.  Words  of  calmness 
and  wisdom  were  heard  in  her  council  rooms.  There  were 
men  of  strength  and  patience.  There  were  men  of  opposing 
opinion  and  there  were  voices  of  dissension.  The  church 
was  threatened  with  dissolution  and  many  took  their  letters 
and  removed  to  other  churches. 

It  is  to  no  purpose  that  we  should  give  further  detail  of 
this  distressing  period  through  which  the  church  passed,  and 
we  only  refer  to  it  here  in  order  that  we  may  more  fully 
understand  why  Dr.  Chapman  was  called  from  his  import- 
ant work  in  Philadelphia  to  give  his  great  tact  and  wisdom 
to  the  saving  of  a  church  of  nqble  history.  The  call  dated 
March  thirteenth,  1899,  came  to  him  like  the  ringing 
Macedonian  cry  of  old,  and  he  at  once  responded.  He 
entered  the  great  City  of  New  York  with  no  outward  show 
or  blare  of  trumpets.  The  installation  services  were 
conducted  by  members  of  the  New  York  Presbytery, 
assisted  by  his  brother-in-law,  Rev.  Marcus  A.  Brownson, 
D.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  who  preached  the  sermon. 

On  the  Sunday  following  Dr.  Chapman  took  for  his  text 
the  fourth  verse  of  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  the  prophecy 
of  Hosea:  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  from  the  Land  of 
Egypt."  He  dwelt  upon  the  majesty  of  that  mighty 
title — ^Jehovah.  Without  consonant  or  vowel,  written  in 
aspirates  alone,  it  could  only  be  breathed.    As  the  atmos- 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  NEW  YORK  69 

phere  of  the  church  pulsated  with  its  power  the  people 
arose,  as  it  were  from  a  darkened  terror,  into  the  brightness 
of  assurance  of  faith.  Then  the  preacher  brought  the 
great  title  closer  home.  "Jehovah  thy  God,  from  Egypt." 
Yes,  from  that  dark  realm  where  life  had  been  made  so 
bitter  and  yet  where  still  and  forever  the  precious  blood  of 
the  Lamb  had  stained  the  lintel — the  same  yesterday  (in 
Egypt)  and  to-day  (in  New  York)  and  forever  (in  his  star- 
encircled  home) — ^Jehovah  is. 

'Tear  not'' — he  cried — quoting  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  "for 
I  have  redeemed  thee,  I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name;  thou 
art  mine." 

The  venerable  and  beloved  Dean  of  the  Session  was  not 
ashamed  "  to  display  a  snow-white  handkerchief,  persistently 
in  use" — for  in  that  meeting  half  the  congregation  were  in 
tears  of  love  and  joy,  and  the  other  half,  temperamentally 
inclined  to  a  different  expression,  were  in  their  hearts 
breathing  out  inaudible  praise. 

At  the  evening  service  on  the  same  day  he  took  for  his 
text  John  14:6 — "I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life." 

It  was  a  Gospel  sermon,  simple,  direct,  and  aflame  with  a 
passion  of  desire  that  men  might  be  saved.  In  response 
to  his  appeal,  the  after-meeting — something  new  in  the 
Fourth  Church — was  crowded.  The  meeting  was  solemn, 
tender,  and  resultful.  Decisions  for  Christ  were  made  that 
night,  and  when  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  the  lights  were 
turned  down  the  Dean  of  the  Session  was  heard  to  say — 
"  This  is  our  Moses,  sent  from  God." 

Custom,  when  long  established,  is  apt  to  bind  with  the 
rigidity  of  a  fixed  code,  and  frequently  the  new  minister 
finds  that  traditional  methods  have  stiffened  into  thick 
barriers  that  he  is  without  skill  to  break  through. 


70      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Dr.  Chapman  was  patient  and  tactful,  discussing  with  the 
Session  various  methods  of  church  work  and  suggesting 
only  such  changes  that  his  long  experience  in  the  pastorate 
seemed  to  justify.  Gradually  and  without  friction  the 
time-honoured  routine  of  the  Scotch  moors  gave  way  to  a 
pliant  and  workable  flexibility.  The  Session  was  induced 
to  meet  for  prayer  before  the  morning  service  and  to  adopt 
the  custom  that  had  proved  of  such  great  blessing  at 
Bethany.  The  sixteen  Elders  walked  in  devout  pro- 
cessional with  the  minister  upon  the  platform. 

Dr.  Edgar  Whitaker  Work,  the  present  pastor  upon 
whose  ministry  God  has  set  the  seal  of  His  blessing,  speaks 
in  the  most  affectionate  way  of  the  cordial  and  efficient 
cooperation  of  the  same  Session  and  confirms  the  oft- 
repeated  declaration  of  Dr.  Chapman:  "1  have  never  had 
a  more  sympathetic  and  efficient  band  of  Elders."  They, 
in  turn,  repeatedly  expressed  their  affectionate  regard  for 
him,  and  their  appreciation  of  *'his  extraordinary  tact,  fine 
spirit,  wise  counsel,  and  unfailing  courtesy." 

The  positive  and  persistent  evangelistic  character  given  to 
all  services  was  something  new  for  the  Fourth  Church  people. 
The  evening  sermon  was  always  a  direct  evangelistic  appeal, 
and  it  was  rare  indeed  without  definite  decisions  for  Christ. 

Dr.  Chapman  was  popular  among  the  young  people  and 
fostered  the  Christian  Endeavour  Society,  reorganizing  it  in 
many  of  its  features  and,  by  his  constant  personal  contact, 
inspiring  the  various  committees,  so  that  it  became  one  of 
the  most  efficient  adjuncts  of  his  ministry.  A  richly 
engrossed  resolution  gives  expression  to  the  affection 
given  to  him  by  the  young  people. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  pastorate  the  aggregate  amount 
contributed  by  the  congregation  for  benevolences  was  for 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  NEW  YORK  71 

that  year  only  seven  hundred  and  twenty  dollars.  His  own 
personal  gifts  were  almost  equal  to  that  sum.  He  was 
himself  the  most  generous  of  men,  and  it  was  to  him  in- 
conceivable that  so  large  and  wealthy  a  church  should  fall 
so  far  behind  in  its  benevolent  offerings.  He  approached 
the  problem  indirectly  and,  by  pressing  upon  the  people  the 
deep  and  universal  need,  he  found  them  responsive  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  annual  benevolences  of  the  church,  at 
the  conclusion  of  his  pastorate,  amounted  to  nine  thousand 
dollars. 

His  own  generosity  was  taxed  to  the  limit  by  innumerable 
appeals.  At  whatever  personal  cost  he  gave  and  none 
sought  his  help  in  vain.  He  was  frequently  the  victim  of 
imposition,  not  because  he  lacked  a  shrewd  perception  of 
human  nature,  but  because  he  was  of  the  conviction  that  all 
appeals,  if  met  in  a  kindly  and  generous  spirit,  would  give 
him  an  opportunity  to  make  a  counter  appeal  for  Christ. 
The  human  derelicts  that  floated  around  him  soon  learned 
that  any  appeal  made  to  him  meant  on  their  part  serious 
self-examination.  Over  such  characters  he  had  an  extraor- 
dinary influence  and  he  rarely  failed  to  bring  them  to  a 
full  realization  of  their  need  of  God.  One  of  these  unhappy 
souls,  typical  of  many  another  such,  drifted  one  night  into 
the  prayer  meeting  and  there  made  known  his  misfortune. 
One  of  the  Deacons,  thinking  that  he  might  relieve  the 
burdened  minister,  said,  "I'll  get  him  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a 
bed  and  get  rid  of  him." 

''Under  no  circumstances,"  said  the  Doctor,  "Til  see  him 
myself." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting  there  was  a  deep 
searching  of  heart,  and,  in  the  dimly  lighted  room,  at  the 
end  of  an  hour,  they  knelt  together.    God  saved  the  man 


72       J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

and  to-day  he  is  an  ordained  minister  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  number  of  men  who, 
under  his  influence,  were  led  to  enter  the  Christian  ministry. 
We  know  of  many. 

The  Rev.  Harry  L.  Bowlby,  D.D.,  the  distinguished  and 
efficient  Secretary  of  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance,  writes  as 
follows: 

It  was  in  the  early  spring  of  1892  at  Dover,  New  Jersey,  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  used  Doctor  Chapman  to  call  me  into  the  ministry.  Our 
beloved  friend  and  honoured  servant  of  the  Master  was  conducting 
evangelistic  services  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Dover,  and  I 
attended  those  meetings.  I  was  a  clerk  in  a  store  at  the  time.  Dur- 
ing one  of  Doctor  Chapman's  sermons  a  voice  not  heard  by  mortal  ear 
spoke  to  me  and  "called  me  out"  to  consecrate  my  life  wholly  to 
Christian  service.    I  answered  the  call  and  prepared  for  the  ministry. 

This  fragment  of  a  letter  is  inserted  because  it  represents 
the  spirit  and  tender  affection  of  many  like-minded  men 
that  had  thus  come  under  Dr.  Chapman's  influence. 

Services  conducted  by  him,  whether  in  his  own  church  or 
elsewhere,  were  most  carefully  balanced.  He  supervised 
the  church  music  to  coordinate  and  define  its  value  in  public 
worship.  He  believed  it  to  be  just  as  important  that 
there  should  be  a  spirit-led  choir  as  a  spirit-led  minister. 
Throughout  the  whole  of  his  pastorate  of  the  Fourth 
Church  Mr.  Joseph  Little  was  organist  and  afterward 
choir-master.  They  worked  out  the  weeldy  programme 
together.  The  earlier  numbers  of  any  service  were  always 
those  of  ascription  and  praise;  then  an  expression  of  the 
heart — ^joyful  or  appealing;  then  the  sermon,  embodying  the 
topic  of  the  hour,  and  finally  the  great  confirmatory, 
clinching  "amen"  of  the  choir.  The  music  was  of  value  in 
so  far  as  it  reached  and  prepared  the  heart  for  the  Gospel 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  NEW  YORK  73 

message.  He  was  the  author  of  many  appealing  Gospel 
hymns  that  will  ever  abide  with  us  amid  the  indestructible 
memories  of  his  life  and  service. 

Mr.  Little  extols  his  wonderful  capacity  for  doing  "ex- 
actly the  right  thing  at  exactly  the  right  moment."  He 
tells  of  a  young  church  member  who,  one  day  filled  with 
indignation,  came  to  Dr.  Chapman  to  complain  of  some 
personal  affront — or  fancied  one — that  he  had  received 
from  a  church  committee.  The  pastor  listened  patiently, 
expressed  deep  regret,  profound  sympathy,  and  then — as  if 
it  had  suddenly  occurred  to  him — said:  "  I  am  having  lots 
of  trouble  with  that  matter.  By  the  way,  I  wonder  if  you 
could  not  manage  it  for  me?  You  have  the  very  talent  for 
it.  Enlist  a  dozen  of  our  bright  boys,  and  after  the  prayer 
meeting  Friday  night  we  will  organize  and  accomplish  what 
we  desire." 

Mr.  Little  says:  "The  poor  fellow  went  away  the 
happiest  man  in  Greater  New  York." 

In  his  relationship  to  the  church  officers  he  was  always 
friendly  but  frank  and  fearless.  On  one  occasion  the 
President  of  the  Business  Board  of  the  Church,  eminent  in 
the  business  world,  a  man  of  high  culture  and  international 
reputation,  expressed  the  conviction  that  church  govern- 
ment should  be  conducted  on  strictly  business  principles. 
That  sounds  reasonable,  but  you  cannot  run  a  church  in  the 
same  way  that  you  do  a  bank  or  a  cotton  mill.  Discussion 
was  given  to  it  by  the  Session  and  the  Trustees.  The 
President  thought  all  differences  might  be  adjusted  by  the 
honourable  retirement  of  the  Dean  and  the  Elders  and  the 
introducton  into  the  Session  of  younger  men  of  modem 
type.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  he  obtained  a  resolution 
from  the  Board  to  submit  to  the  church  the  proposition  of 


74      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

changing  the  life  tenure  of  the  eldership  to  the  rotary 
system.  The  Session  adopted  a  resolution  to  the  effect 
that  it  would  not  be  ''wise  at  this  time  to  call  a  meeting  of 
the  church  to  consider  the  adoption  of  the  rotary  system 
for  the  eldership."  The  Session  and  the  Trustees  had  a 
conference.  Dr.  Chapman  agreed  with  the  Elders  and  to 
the  President,  who  opposed  him,  said:  "Pardon  me,  sir, 
I  want  to  say  to  you  here  and  now  that  while  I  am  pastor 
of  this  church  I  propose  to  be  pastor.''  There  was  no  breach 
of  friendship.  The  Pastor  and  the  President  in  their  re- 
spective places  of  power  lived  thereafter  in  harmony. 

During  his  pastorate  of  three  years  and  eight  months 
there  were  added  to  the  church-roll  approximately  six 
hundred  and  fifty,  two  hundred  and  fifty  on  profession  of 
faith  in  Christ.  During  the  time  there  were  frequent 
evangelistic  services  held  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 
And  yet  he  was  rarely  absent  from  his  own  pulpit  on  Sun- 
day. The  Session  was  always  in  the  heartiest  accord  with 
him  and  voted  him  "an  entirely  free  hand  for  evangelistic 
services  outside." 

The  strain  upon  him  was  terrific  and  he  began  to  show 
signs  of  physical  weariness.  In  fact,  he  passed  through  one 
period  of  serious  illness  when  for  a  while  they  were  in 
despair  of  his  life.  He  had  a  wonderful  constitution  that 
responded  quickly  and  he  was  soon  back  at  work.  More 
serious  demands  claimed  his  time  and  strength.  On  the 
thirtieth  of  October,  1901,  Dr.  William  Henry  Roberts,  the 
honoured  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly,  whose  life 
was  thereafter  to  be  inseparably  connected  with  Dr. 
Chapman  in  his  great  evangelistic  career,  informed  him 
that  he  had  been  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  as  a 
member  of  the  Assembly's  Committee  on  Evangelistic 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  NEW  YORK  75 

Work,  and  that  the  Committee  had  elected  him  to  be  its 
Corresponding  Secretary,  and  was  about  to  request  his 
church  to  release  him  from  his  pastoral  relationship  in  order 
that  he  might  enter  the  broader  field. 

The  church  refused.  They  had  made  sacrifices  enough. 
To  give  him  up  entirely  was  unthinkable.  In  a  communica- 
tion framed  by  the  Clerk  of  Session,  Mr.  Henry  Cole 
Smith,  and  addressed  to  Mr.  John  H.  Converse,  Chairman 
of  the  Committee,  the  church  expressed  appreciation  of  the 
honour  implied,  but  called  to  the  attention  of  the  Com- 
mittee the  fact  that  the  church  was  "practically  new;  that 
a  large  majority  of  its  members  had  been  admitted  within 
the  brief  period  of  Dr.  Chapman's  pastorate;  that  they  now 
still  needed  his  pastoral  oversight,  love,  and  care;  that 
conditions  throughout  New  York  were  such  as  to  make  it 
essential  that  this  strong  Gospel  preacher  should  remain 
within  her  border;  and,  finally,  that  while  we  do  not  feel 
that  it  is  possible  for  us  to  grant  the  Committee's  request 
entirely  to  relinquish  our  pastor  at  this  time,  we  are  cordially 
willing  to  grant  such  assistance  to  the  Committee  as  Dr. 
Chapman  may  himself  find  possible  in  connection  with  his 
pastoral  labours." 

As  the  outcome  of  the  negotiation  Dr.  Chapman  accepted 
the  appointment  and  a  thoroughly  organized  office  was 
established  in  the  Fourth  Church.  Mr.  Harper  G.  Smyth, 
who  had  been  associated  with  Dr.  Chapman  in  the  work  of 
the  church,  became  Superintendent  of  the  mailing  depart- 
ment, and  Dr.  Parley  E.  Zartmann,  for  years  to  come  to  be 
the  right-hand  man  of  Dr.  Chapman  in  his  connection  with 
the  Committee,  became  the  Field  Secretary,  and  made 
arrangements  for  all  evangelistic  appointments. 

Under   these    accumulating   burdens    Dr.    Chapman's 


76      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

strength  again  gave  way,  and  it  became  evident  that  sooner 
or  later  he  would  have  to  choose  between  the  church  and  the 
call  to  the  wider  field.  On  the  twenty-fourth  day  of 
October,  1902,  there  appeared  before  the  Session  a  member 
of  the  Assembly's  Committee,  Mr.  John  Willis  Baer, 
known  and  loved  throughout  the  world  of  Christian  en- 
deavour, thereafter  to  become  a  president  of  a  great  college 
and  the  first  Elder  to  enjoy  the  distinction  of  being  the 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly.  Mr.  Baer,  represent- 
ing the  Assembly's  Committee  and  bearing  with  him  a 
letter  from  the  chairman,  Mr.  John  H.  Converse,  and  an- 
other from  Mr.  Walter  M.  Smith,  a  great  merchant  and  man 
of  God,  Elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Stamford, 
Connecticut,  made  an  earnest  and  eloquent  plea  for  the 
release  of  the  pastor.  Dr.  Chapman  himself  moderated 
the  meeting.  It  was  evident  that  he  was  without  strength 
to  render  the  double  service.  He  must  choose  the  alterna- 
tive. With  manifest  and  deep  regret  he  made  this  choice 
constrained  by  the  conviction  that  God  was  leading  him 
into  the  wider  and  greater  service.  With  sorrowful  re- 
luctance the  Session  consented  to  lay  the  question  before 
the  church,  and  to  ask  the  membership  to  unite  with  Dr. 
Chapman  in  a  petition  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  to 
dissolve  the  pastoral  relationship.  The  relationship  was 
terminated  officially  on  the  twelfth  of  December,  1902;  but 
Dr.  Chapman  continued  to  serve  the  church  until  the 
beginning  of  1903,  when  he  entered  upon  the  great  work 
that  was  to  win  for  him  international  distinction. 


CHAPTER  VI 

A  RETROSPECT 

In  leaving  the  pastorate  Dr.  Chapman  entered  into  a 
new  world.  A  wealth  of  experience  lay  behind  him;  a  new 
path  stretched  away  into  the  vista  of  the  years.  So  radical 
a  change  justifies  a  brief  retrospect  of  his  life  in  order  that 
we  may  discern  more  clearly  something  of  that  divine 
direction  without  which  life  has  little  significance  or  deter- 
minate value. 

Men  chosen  of  God  are  trained  and  tested  before  they  are 
trusted  with  the  responsibility  of  leadership.  So  was  it 
with  Moses;  so  was  it  with  Paul;  and  so  has  it  been  in  all 
generations. 

No  vessel  of  clay,  foreordained  to  glory,  is  marred  upon 
the  wheel;  but,  at  whatever  cost,  it  must  be  made  meet  for 
the  Master's  use. 

A  man  led  of  God  may  seem  at  times  to  be  blindly  groping 
his  way,  but  unerringly  he  reaches  the  predetermined  goal. 

Dr.  Chapman,  often  at  a  loss  to  interpret  the  meaning  of 
his  experience,  was  led  step  by  step  to  the  broad  field  of 
evangelism  and  then  he  knew  that  God  had  brought  him 
there.  Under  this  conviction  he  accepted  his  commission 
and  entered  upon  the  work  that  God  had  given  him  to  do. 

Heredity,  environment,  education,  experience,  motive, 
are — if  in  subjection  to  the  will  of  God — the  subtle  forces 
that  mould  and  enrich  life. 

Paul  was  persuaded  that  the  unfeigned  faith  of  Timothy 

77 


78      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

dwelt  first  in  his  grandmother  Lois  and  his  mother  Eunice. 
In  childhood  Wilbur  had  heard  from  his  mother  the  hymns 
of  faith,  and  the  music  lingered,  subconsciously,  of  course, 
in  his  mind  and  heart.  By  her  side  he  had  knelt  and  heard 
the  reverent  intonations  of  his  father's  voice  as  he,  day  after 
day,  conducted  the  family  worship.  Sunday  after  Sunday 
the  child  could  be  seen  in  the  family  pew,  his  boyish  pro- 
pensities under  control,  understanding  little  or  nothing  of 
the  dialectics  of  the  preacher,  of  his  homiletics  or  dogmatics, 
of  his  postulate,  application  or  conclusion;  but  noting  the 
rudeness  or  rhythm  of  his  periods,  his  gestures,  and  the 
vehemence  of  his  climacterics,  and  sensing  their  sincerity, 
eagerness,  and  power,  he  forthwith,  at  home — four  years  old 
— with  his  brothers  and  sisters  for  an  audience,  stood  upon 
his  chair-pulpit  and  began  his  great  career.  What  subtle 
and  far-reaching  forces  may  be  in  action  while  little  children 
unconsciously  are  acting  out  their  natures! 

The  environment  of  his  childhood  was  altogether  favour- 
able. Conversation  perhaps  might  hardly  have  been 
called  profound,  but  it  was  never  trivial;  it  was  reverent, 
never  godless.  The  church  bells  rang  a  psalm  upon  the 
Lord's  Day  air.  It  was  an  atmosphere  of  calmness  and  of 
peace  undisturbed  by  the  restless  rush  that  now  threatens 
to  overwhelm  the  world.  For  a  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
under  three  flags,  very  peculiarly,  the  Whitewater  Valley 
had  been  providentially  hedged  in  against  the  incursions  of 
different  alien  forces.  The  sheen  on  the  gently  flowing 
river  was  never  boisterous  but  always  smiling.  The  woods 
were  weird  to  Wilbur,  but  he,  even  as  a  child,  was  often 
contemplative  amid  the  sombre  shadows  of  their  stately 
forms.  He  knew  nature  well,  not  technically  nor  from 
books,  and — loved  it. 


A  RETROSPECT  79 

Can  we  doubt  that  in  those  days  God,  as  he  breathed  into 
the  boy's  agile  body  vigour  and  health,  breathed  also  into 
his  soul  a  deeper  and  more  profound  and  abiding  con- 
sciousness of  life's  amazing  possibilities? 

Next  in  order  across  the  stage  moves  the  boy  with  his  jig- 
saw. Trivial  enough,  and  for  most  boys  only  that,  but  for 
him  it  marked  initiative.  Then,  in  designing,  he  became 
artistic — an  important  element  in  the  writing  of  sermons — 
and,  deftly  weaving  flowers  and  birds  amid  his  Byzantine 
traceries,  there  was  given  a  touch  of  poetry  to  his  art.  In 
workmanship  he  developed  diligence,  thoroughness,  and 
finish.    How  all  this  stands  out  in  all  his  after  hf e ! 

Then,  in  the  marketing  of  the  products  of  his  little  saw- 
mill, in  running  the  milk  route,  in  the  trade  of  the  coal  yard, 
in  the  keeping  of  .books,  he  learned  that  discretion,  that 
diplomacy  in  dealing  with  men,  those  many  graces  of 
courtesy,  all  of  which  he  so  eminently  displayed  in  his  varied 
and  exacting  pastorates. 

Passing  through  the  treacherous  period  of  adolescence,  so 
fraught  with  peril,  guarded  and  kept  by  the  unseen  power 
that  was  shaping  his  destiny,  he  entered  his  school  life  with 
an  alert  mind  and  clear  head. 

Moses  must  be  cradled  in  the  rushes,  trained  as  a  Pharaoh 
of  Egypt,  exiled  in  terror  of  the  law,  wedded  in  the  wilder- 
ness, before,  through  the  luminous  bush,  he  can  be  trusted 
to  lead  the  ever-recalcitrant  mob  of  Israel  or  battle  against 
the  encircling  hordes  of  Amorites  and  the  savages  of 
Bashan. 

A  man  destined  to  distinction  must  have  his  day  of 
preparation. 

This  Whitewater  boy,  shielded,  guarded,  guided,  rose 
unimpassioned  to  the  great  tryst  that  was  sure  to  come. 


80      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

As  his  intellect  expanded  in  varied  fields  of  knowledge,  his 
opinions  were  formed.  Endued  with  an  unusual  intel- 
lectuality these  children  of  his  thought,  his  very  own, 
became  dear  and  delightful  to  him.  He  was  keen  to  discern 
and  to  love  the  beautiful  things  about  him.  Tastes  and 
desires  reached  out  to  them.  His  own  athletic  skill  in  the 
field  of  sport,  the  proud  stepping  of  the  horses  that  so 
fascinated  him,  the  ringing  of  their  silver  martingales, 
the  thought  of  the  future,  the  majestic  power  of  wealth,  the 
hope  of  lasting  fame,  innumerable  voices  sounding  in  his 
ears,  hundreds  of  vistas  opening  before  his  eyes!  Which 
of  the  great  prizes  of  life  were  not  within  his  grasp,  for  the 
taking  of  them,  if  he  should  so  desire? 

He  stood  by  the  river  and  God  met  him  there  point 
blank  and  challenged  him.  It  was  a  challenge  to  the  whole 
life  of  him,  his  very  being,  in  its  present  estate,  utterly;  his 
alliances;  the  deep,  ultimate,  back-lying  motives,  purposes, 
plans;  his  thought,  his  loves,  and  his  antipathies;  his  in- 
tellect, his  affection,  his  will — his  indiscerptible  self. 

In  answer  to  the  challenge  he  made  a  full  surrender. 
When  the  moment  for  the  open  declaration  came  he 
needed  but  the  touch  of  Mrs.  Binkley's  hand  to  help. 
Then  the  father's  patient,  persistent  pleading  that  brought 
him  and  Ed  to  stand  side  by  side  in  the  church  in  the  open 
confession  of  the  faith  that  D.  L.  Moody  was  to  probe  and 
to  confirm. 

At  Oberlin,  under  the  influence  of  the  paternal  letters 
from  home,  his  personal  evangelistic  work  begins.  Aca- 
demic discussions  of  philosophy  no  doubt  prevailed.  But 
he  was  no  philosopher.  His  processes  of  thought  were  not 
abstract  but  concrete  and  related  to  practical  action.  He 
aspired  to  found  no  sect,  but  he  did  seek  to  get  saving 


A  RETROSPECT  81 

decisions.  This  was  and  is  the  essential  thing  in  evangelism. 
He  once  wrote — "I  have  no  controversy  with  the  brother 
who  may  differ  from  me;  I  only  long  to  exalt  Christ/' 
With  this  objective  there  is  left  no  room  for  debate. 

In  Cincinnati  he  encountered  a  swirling  current  of  con- 
flicting opinions.  Lane  Seminary,  almost  astride  of  the 
Mason  and  Dixon  line,  with  students  and  professors  from 
both  sections,  could  not  escape  the  rancorous  debates  that 
followed  the  long  period  of  reconstruction  after  the  Civil 
War.  Mutterings  were  still  heard  of  the  heresy  trials  of 
Lyman  Beecher,  President  of  Lane;  of  Hopkins,  Taylor,  and 
Alfred  Barnes.  Theodore  Parker  in  his  great  energy  and 
erudition  had  given  a  new  and  a  strong  impetus  to 
Unitarianism  in  America. 

The  shadows  of  such  floating  clouds  are  referred  to  only 
to  throw  into  greater  radiance  the  bright  light  of  God's 
constant,  watchful  dealing  with  this  boy  of  His  choice. 

The  money  problem  was  always  present  with  Wilbur. 
He  felt  the  constraint  of  earning  the  cost  of  his  education. 
Over  against  that  he  had  a  natural  endowment  of  inesti- 
mable price.  He  had  acquired  an  adequate  vocabulary, 
could  make  fluent  use  of  it,  and  God  had  endowed  him 
with  a  voice.  Who  is  it  that,  ever  having  heard  him,  has 
not  wondered  at  the  mystical  music  of  that  mysterious 
voice?  It  was  not  what  musicians  would  term  technically 
either  "noble"  or  "heroic";  rather  was  it  mellow — ^not 
muffled  nor  mossed — but  full  and  round  and  firm;  and 
when  rising  to  a  climax  developed  a  depth  and  power 
comparable  with — well,  with  thunder,  at  a  distance;  and 
yet  the  thunder  rarely  pealed.  There  was  ever  present  in 
it  a  musical  tenderness,  a  pathos  almost  like  tears,  a  throb,  a 
tremolo-stop,  as  in  the  grand  organ,  perfectly  adapted  to 


82      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN-A  BIOGRAPHY 

the  wonderful  expression  of  God's  symphony  of  love  and 
grace  and  sufficiency.  His  enunciation  was  clear  and 
incisive,  but  with  no  tearing,  saw-tooth  edge.  If  it  hurt,  it 
would  be  a  clean-cut  wound,  healing  quickly. 

To  his  College  Comer  congregation,  gathered  from  the 
pastures  and  the  cornfields,  he  did  not  go  with  a  dexterously 
wrought,  filmy  fabric  of  theology,  but  with  the  simplest, 
straightest— *'Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest";  and  the  farmers,  and 
their  daughters,  and  their  sons  learned  to  love  the  message 
and  the  messenger,  and  the  Lord  whom  it  and  he  pro- 
claimed. 

In  the  coterminate  charge  at  Liberty  he  encountered 
another  phase  of  humanity  not  different  in  essence  but  in 
circumstances.  The  vital,  heart-deep  needs  were  the 
same;  but  at  College  Comer  the  farms  were  ever  crossed  at 
any  angle,  and  the  wildwood  was  not  planted  in  rows;  and 
process  of  thought  was  tempered  by  the  breeze  from  the 
hillside  and  moulded  by  the  mooing  of  the  herd.  Thought 
was  crude  but  personal  and  pungent. 

The  village  of  Liberty  was  once  frontier;  but  now  a  fifth 
generation  discussed  the  politics  of  the  nation,  and  the 
seventh  surged  to  the  excellent  schools.  Trees  in  straight 
rows  bordered  the  flagged  sidewalks.  In  contrast  with  the 
rural  all  was  urban. 

Thus  the  young  Licentiate— for  he  shepherded  the  two 
flocks  before  he  graduated— early  learned  the  exquisite  art  of 
adaptation  that  so  notably  characterized  his  whole  career. 

One  Sunday  he  chose  as  the  topic  for  his  discourse  the 
incident  of  Jacob  at  the  fords  of  the  Jabbok,  rehearsing  the 
story  simply  and  briefly,  but  vividly.  He  took  the  same 
text  for  both  congregations. 


A  RETROSPECT  83 

In  the  morning,  for  the  townspeople  at  Liberty,  he 
dwelt  upon  the  wrestling,  and  the  victory  through  defeat. 

At  night,  before  the  congregation  at  College  Corner,  he 
dwelt  upon  "the  breaking  of  the  day";  for  the  farmers  were 
up  betimes,  and  they  knew  that  the  dawn  is  in  the  zenith 
and  spreads  both  ways  until  it  is  lost  in  the  glory  of  the  day- 
break. 

And  what  sermons  they  were! 

The  first  ended  in  a  tender  appeal  to  give  up  the  hopeless 
struggle  with  God  and  to  cling  to  Him  for  blessing. 

The  second  closed  with  the  great  Scripture: 

God  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness  hath  shined 
in  our  hearts  to  give  us  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Thus  early  had  he  learned  to  adapt  his  message  to  the 
peculiar  need  of  his  congregation.  At  both  services,  as  far 
as  man  is  able  to  discern,  there  were  definite  decisions  for 
Christ. 

From  the  Whitewater  pastorates  he  is  brought  close  to 
tidewater  traffic  with  New  York.  The  infection  of  barter 
was  there.  Its  productions  were  comprised  in  a  few  small 
factories.  It  supplied  the  back-lying  country  and  shipped 
the  remaining  products  to  the  commission  men  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Hudson.  Nothing  is  more  dehumanizing  than 
the  monotonous  buzz  of  the  factory  spindle.  Nothing  so 
withers  the  soul  as  ever  gambling  for  gain. 

How  shall  the  young  minister,  with  so  little  experience, 
adapt  himself  to  this  new  field?  With  a  wisdom  God 
guided — nothing  else  can  explain  it — within  the  short 
term  of  two  years,  one  hundred  are  added  to  the  little 
church,  and  increased  accessions  to  other  churches  in  the 


84       J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

town.  His  ministry  there  as  elsewhere  seemed  to  produce 
a  general  consciousness  of  God  permeating  the  village  and 
contiguous  countryside.  His  versatility  constantly  and 
profoundly  moves  us  with  surprise  and  gratitude.  Still 
there  remains  much  for  him  to  learn.  There  are  classes  of 
humanity  of  which  as  yet  he  has  had  little  knowledge.  He 
must  stand  before  potentates  and  parliaments,  before 
courts  and  conferences,  before  communities  and  common- 
wealths, and  must  rise  to  the  highest  distinction  within  the 
gift  of  the  Church.  The  training  must  be  thorough,  the 
experience  exceptional;  and  God  is  planning  it  all. 

Thus  he  moves  on  to  the  pastorate  at  Albany,  with  its 
proud  traditions,  its  boasted  claim  to  the  court-armour  of 
William  of  Orange,  its  refusal  to  uncover  in  the  presence  of 
Puritanism.  Here  is  a  further  test  of  the  young  preacher's 
adaptability.  We  know  how  he  met  it,  breaking  through 
the  hard  crust  of  conservatism,  and — to  their  absolute 
delight — introducing  "Inquiry  Meetings"  and  "Sankey 
songs. "  It  was  all  fine  practice.  It  was  something  that  he 
must  learn  and  he  did  it  quickly  and  thoroughly. 

The  transition  from  Albany  to  Philadelphia  must  not  be 
measured  by  the  number  of  miles  between  the  localities. 
It  was  a  move  from  the  aristocratic  homes  of  the  capital 
city  of  a  great  state  to  the  quiet  and  warmth  of  the  homes 
of  a  thrifty  and  more  lowly  people  who,  by  their  simple 
piety,  had  transformed  the  region  that  once  blighted  the 
Schuylkill  wharves  at  Lombard  Street.  A  change  more 
radical  and  extreme  could  hardly  be  imagined.  John 
Wanamaker's  great  Sunday  School,  together  with  the 
phenomenal  progress  of  Bethany  church,  had  been  in- 
strumental in  modifying  the  tone  and  temper  of  that 
section  of  the  city,  and  yet  the  young  preacher  found  him- 


A  RETROSPECT  85 

self  thronged  by  what  God  seems  to  have  loved  most — 
because,  as  Lincoln  said,  ''He  made  so  many  of  them" — 
the  common  people.  The  Gospel  story  as  told  by  him 
simply  and  earnestly  was  as  it  ever  had  been  and  ever  will  be 
adaptable  to  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men.  "The 
common  people" — as  of  old — "heard  him  gladly." 

During  his  first  pastorate  at  Bethany,  and  while  God  was 
so  abundantly  blessing  him  there,  B.  Fay  Mills  rose  to  the 
zenith  of  his  power.  Wherever  he  laboured  there  were 
the  most  extraordinary  manifestations  of  spiritual  power. 
Great  communities  in  different  parts  of  the  country  were 
shaken  to  their  very  centres.  In  many  of  the  larger  cities, 
on  the  day  set  apart  for  prayer,  all  business  ceased,  the 
stores  and  even  saloons  were  closed,  and  in  one  great  city 
the  law  courts  were  adjourned.  It  was  evident  that  a 
great  spirit  of  revival  was  sweeping  over  the  country.  Mr. 
Mills  was  calling  on  men  of  evangelistic  gifts  to  help  him. 
Naturally  enough  he  turned  to  his  college  chum.  They 
were  frequently  together.  In  Minneapolis,  under  their 
leadership,  there  was  a  great  awakening,  and  from  there 
Wilbur  returned  to  Philadelphia,  fixed  in  his  determination 
to  resign  the  pastorate  and  devote  himself  entirely  to 
evangelistic  work. 

It  was  no  easy  thing  to  break  the  tie  that  bound  him  to 
his  beloved  people  in  Bethany.  But  the  voice  of  God  had 
summoned  him  and  there  was  no  alternative.  In  the 
spring  of  1893  the  pastoral  relationship  was  dissolved  and 
he  was  free  to  consider  the  invitations  that  poured  in  upon 
him  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

In  the  spring  of  1890,  before  he  had  accepted  his  first  call 
to  Bethany,  the  Strain  family  had  moved  from  Albany  to 
the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson,  a  few  miles  south  of  the  city. 


86       J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

The  house  rented  by  them — known  as  "Riverside" — ^was 
a  fine  old  mansion  of  the  earlier  type  of  architecture.  It 
had  ample  grounds,  shaded  by  great  elms,  and  within  a  few 
hundred  feet  of  the  house  at  the  foot  of  the  lawn  the  noble 
river  rolled  its  way  toward  the  sea.  The  summer  of  that 
year  Wilbur  and  Agnes  spent  their  vacation  there,  and  there 
he  moved  his  family  when  he  left  Bethany  to  go  out  on  his 
evangelistic  mission.  In  fact,  it  was  as  much  for  them  as 
for  his  own  family  that  Mr.  Strain  had  taken  the  place. 

Not  far  from  "Riverside'^ — at  a  place  known  as  Douw's 
Point — there  was  another  fine  old  mansion  that  had  been 
given  the  name  of  "Wolvenhook."  Mr.  Douglas  Miller, 
who  had  charge  of  the  Douw  estate,  urged  Wilbur  to  take 
"  Wolvenhook"  which  he  consented  to  do  on  condition  that 
some  suggested  repairs  be  made.  One  of  that  family  circle 
writes: 

I  remember  the  pleasure  we  all  had  in  the  plans,  and  you  recall  what 
a  beautiful  home  it  was  when  the  repairs  were  completed.  The  wide, 
hospitable  hall,  with  long  vistas  through  the  glass  doors,  the  spreading 
elm  trees,  the  shining  river  beyond,  and  the  mountains  in  the  back- 
ground of  all!  Within  cordial  welcome  for  all  visitors  and  sweet  family 
life  for  those  who  abode  there.  The  big  dining  and  living  rooms,  the 
ample  fireplaces  and  porches  were  like  the  good  host  of  the  house, 
generous. 

In  the  fall  of  1894  Mr.  Strain  gave  up  "Riverside"  and 
moved  his  family  to  a  cottage  on  the  Wolvenhook  estate. 
The  marriage  of  his  daughter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Marcus  A. 
Brownson  soon  followed,  and  after  that  break  in  the  family 
circle  Agnes  earnestly  desired  that  her  father  and  mother 
might  make  their  home  with  her.  Wilbur  had  been  under 
the  deepest  of  obligation  to  them  and  especially  to  Mrs. 
Strain  to  whom  he  owed  so  much,  and  it  was  with  genuine 
joy  that  he  fitted  up  for  them  a  wing  in  the  northwest  comer 


A  RETROSPECT  87 

of  the  big  house.  There  they  were  most  comfortable 
''before  their  own  large  fireplace,  with  windows  all  around 
the  room  through  which  the  sun  shone  all  day  long."  Mrs. 
Brownson  speaks  for  many  another,  when  she  says: 

The  years  we  all  spent  at  "Wolvenhook"  are  bright  spots  in  our 
lives  and  I  recall  them  now  with  gratitude  and  with  joy.  You  re- 
member the  charming  atmosphere  of  that  home,  I  am  sure,  and  can 
you  not  almost  hear  my  blessed  mother's  cheery  laugh,  after  listening 
to  one  of  Wilbur's  screamingly  funny  stories?  Do  you  not  remember 
how  after  a  delicious  dinner  served  in  the  big  dining  room  we  gathered 
on  the  porch  to  watch  the  sun  go  down  between  the  Helderburg  Hills 
and  when  the  big  Hudson  River  night  boat  steamed  by  we  parted  for 
the  night?  The  passing  of  the  boat  marked  bedtime.  Or  in  the 
winter,  snow  deep  everywhere,  how  comfortable  the  house  was!  And 
no  fires  ever  seemed  as  cheerful  as  those  that  burned  in  the  "Wolven- 
hook"  chimneys  and  no  companionship  dearer  than  that  about  those 
fires.  My  mother  said  she  had  really  learned  to  know  her  own  family 
by  moving  to  the  country,  for  as  she  shut  the  world  out  she  shut  her 
children  in  about  her  and  so  we  grew  closer  together. 

"Wolvenhook,"  with  its  wonderful  trees  and  lawns,  its  gardens,  its 
simple  pleasure,  its  sweet  home  atmosphere,  its  quiet  and  peace,  was  a 
restful  place  for  Wilbur  to  come  back  to  in  those  days  of  hard  work  and 
strenuous  living. 

To  this  delightful  home  Dr.  Chapman  returned  in  the 
interval  between  his  meetings.  He  owned  three  fine  horses,' 
one  of  which,  a  noble  animal  called  Dan,  he  had  purchased 
from  Mr.  Mills  who  was  then  living  in  Pawtuxet,  Rhode 
Island.    Mrs.  Brownson  says: 

Dan  was  the  most  beautiful  horse  I  ever  saw,  a  chestnut  sorrel,  full 
of  life,  but  as  gentle  as  a  lamb  when  Wilbur  drove  him.  They  were 
the  best  of  friends  and  we  knew  that  Dan  was  as  glad  to  see  his  master 
as  we  all  were  when  he  returned  after  a  long  absence.  How  eagerly 
we  all  waited  for  his  coming  and  how  gloriously  thankful  we  were  over 
the  record  of  his  evangelistic  success!  We  felt  we  could  share  a  bit,  too, 
in  his  work  for  we  stayed  at  "Wolvenhook"  keeping  the  "home  fires 
burning"  while  he  toiled,  we  prayed,  and  the  Lord  blessed  us  all. 


88      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

In  those  days  the  bicycle  had  come  into  general  use  and 
people  that  knew  Dr.  Chapman  only  in  his  more  serious 
moods  would  have  been  surprised  and  perhaps  shocked  to 
see  him  coasting  a  mile  a  minute  on  "Nick  Smith's  Hiir* 
which  stretched  from  the  little  village  of  Nassau  to  the  river. 

During  his  eventful  life  up  to  this  time  he  had  had  few 
periods  of  recreation.  His  engagements  were  closely  knit, 
and  allowed  but  a  few  days  between  them.  But  these  were 
the  days  in  which  *'Wolvenhook"  became  woven  into  the 
happiest  memories  of  his  Ufe. 

Among  the  first  of  the  meetings  conducted  by  him  after 
leaving  Bethany  was  in  Saginaw,  Michigan.  Here  the 
Governor  of  the  state  was  ''brought  to  Christ"  and  ''many 
prominent  business  men."  Among  the  latter  was  Mr. 
Charles  H.  Dennison  who  from  that  time  onward  remained 
a  constant  and  devoted  friend.  Referring  to  these  meetings 
he  says: 

At  that  time  I  was  not  a  Christian,  but  Doctor  Chapman  invited  me 
to  his  hotel,  and  there  I  broke  down  and  came  into  the  marvellous 
light.  In  the  summer,  soon  following,  I  met  him  again  when  he  was 
working  in  Montreal,  Canada;  and  there  he  invited  me  to  visit  him 
at  Wolvenhook.  He  was  the  leading  spirit  in  his  home.  First  up  in 
the  morning,  never  idle  for  a  moment,  turning  over  two  men's  work, 
and  while  he  worked  transforming  every  incident  into  an  illustration 
of  the  love  of  God  for  dying  men,  and  after  this  manner  creating  his 
great  sermons.  He  never  wearied  of  praising  his  beloved  wife.  She 
certainly  was  a  sunbeam  about  the  house.  One  of  his  great  ambitions 
was  to  beautify  the  home  and  make  it  attractive  to  his  family  and  to 
his  guests.  Every  room  had  its  own  peculiar  interest  and  charm. 
To  him  nothing  was  uninteresting.  To  live  in  this  day  was  to  him  a 
wonderful  thing.  A  time  of  rare  opportunity  and  he  thoughtfully 
viewed  everything  as  to  its  portent  and  trend. 

Nothing  needs  to  be  added  to  this  affectionate  tribute 
given  by  so  devoted  a  friend.    It  is  enough  to  say  that  those 


A  RETROSPECT  89 

who  were  fortunate  enough  to  be  intimate  with  Dr.  Chapman 
will  never  forget  the  dear  old  days  at  "Wolvenhook." 

During  the  first  year  in  which  he  was  undergoing  his  test 
as  an  evangelist  he  held  services  in  Burlington,  Vermont; 
Saratoga,  New  York;  Ottawa,  Illinois;  Bloomington, 
Indiana,  and  many  other  cities.  So  he  continued  for  three 
years,  and  God  attested  the  reality  of  his  work  in  the  salva- 
tion of  great  multitudes.  Toward  the  close  of  1895  he  held 
services  in  Boston,  as  the  following  testimony  dated  twenty- 
seventh  October,  1895,  will  show: 

The  Pastors  and  Committees  of  the  several  churches  of  this  city, 
united  in  evangelistic  services  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  J.  Wilbur 
Chapman  and  his  assistants,  desire  to  put  on  record  their  gratitude  to 
the  great  Head  of  the  Church  for  his  coming.  His  presentation  of 
"the  whole  council  of  God"  in  the  wondrous  provision  for  saint  and 
sinner,  his  kindly  yet  thorough  probing  of  the  human  heart,  his 
absolute  fidelity  to  one  Divine  Lord  and  to  the  inspired  Bible  win  our 
admiration  and  love.  He  is  a  master  of  English,  simple,  direct* 
impassioned  and  eloquent,  and  his  ripe  scholarship  and  true  Christian 
culture  place  him  beyond  all  criticism  by  such  as  are  offended  by 
crudeness  of  utterance  and  objectionable  form. 

We  gratefully  acknowledge  the  preeminent  endowments  of  Doctor 
Chapman  for  evangelistic  service  and  are  confirmed  in  our  judgment 
that  he  has  been  called  and  qualified  by  the  Holy  Spirit  for  this 
delicate  and  difficult  department  of  Christian  work. 

Signed     Wm.  H.  Allbright,  Pilgrim  Church 
Fred'k  N.  Uphan,     Baker  Memorial 
Geo.  B.  Vosburgh,    Stoughton  St.  Baptist  Church 

From  Boston  the  party  went  directly  to  New  York  for  a 
like  campaign  in  the  great  twenty-sixth  ward  of  the  Borough 
of  Brooklyn,  bordering  in  Queens  and  almost  central  of  the 
territory  of  the  Greater  City.  The  Committee  having  these 
meetings  in  charge  speaks  enthusiastically  of  his  work: 

In  dealing  with  the  unconverted,  either  from  the  platform  or  in 
personal  conversation,  he  is  distinctively  effective.    Believing  with- 


90      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

out  question  that  the  soul,  out  of  Christ,  is  lost,  he  presses  home  to 
reason,  to  conscience,  and  to  heart,  the  necessity  of  immediate  and  un- 
conditional surrender. 

As  a  man  Doctor  Chapman  has  wholly  won  our  hearts  by  his 
geniality  and  approachableness,  and  by  the  conspicuous  absence  of 
everything  selfish  or  mercenary.  His  indirect  singleness  of  aim  has 
won  our  confidence  completely  and  inspired  us  all  with  higher  and 
holier  purposes.  As  a  fellow  labourer  in  the  Gospel  we  honour  him; 
as  a  fellow  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ  we  love  him. 

His  co-workers,  Mr.  Wm.  A.  Sunday  and  Professor  and  Mrs.  J.  J* 
Lowe,  have  all  been  well  chosen  and  are  well  adapted  to  the  parts  they 
bear.  Yet  we  cannot  but  feel  that  the  hold  which  they  have  gained 
upon  the  heart  of  this  community  is  due,  not  simply  to  an  appreciation 
of  the  attractiveness  of  the  persons  or  character  of  these  friends, 
conspicuous  though  that  has  been,  but  rather  for  their  work's  sake  in 
pointing  more  fully  to  the  blessed  Christ,  whose  they  are  and  whom 
they  serve.  Our  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  is  that  every  in- 
creasing grace  may  be  bestowed  upon  our  brother  and  his  fellow 
labourers  whom  we  love  as  the  messenger  of  God. 


It  was  at  the  conclusion  of  this  series  of  meetings  in 
Brooklyn  that  he  received  his  second  call  to  the  Bethany- 
Church,  which  as  we  have  noted,  he  at  first  promptly  de- 
clined. Under  pressure  from  the  church  he  was  led  to  re- 
consider his  decision  and  once  more  went  back  into  the 
pastorate.  The  days  of  his  preparation  were  not  yet  over. 
He  must  have  added  experience  in  the  great  Metropolitan 
fields  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York. 

It  was  with  the  deepest  regret  that  he  left  "Wolvenhook" 
behind  him  forever  and  once  more  established  himself  in  a 
city  home.  The  Strains  had  so  endeared  themselves  to  him 
that  he  prevailed  upon  them  to  accompany  him  to  his  new 
Philadelphia  home.  His  life  had  been  vitally  affected  by 
the  influence  of  Mrs.  Strain.  Her  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 
her  gift  for  teaching,  her  consecrated  grace  of  life  and  char- 
acter, had  made  an  indelible  impression  upon  him.    His 


A  RETROSPECT  91 

fellowship  with  her  constituted  no  unimportant  part  of  that 
training  which  God  was  giving  him  for  the  conspicuous  and 
international  service  that  he  was  yet  to  render.  She  lived 
with  them  in  Philadelphia,  keeping  up  her  great  Bible 
classes  in  different  parts  of  the  country  until  the  seventh  of 
May,  1898,  when  she  "entered  into  the  rest  of  heaven,  not 
worn  out  by  years,  but  by  the  intensity  of  a  zeal  which 
consumed  her,  in  the  shorter  period  of  her  life  which  had 
known  no  relaxation,  yet  which  had,  because  of  its  intensity, 
wrought  what  few  lives  had  been  able  to  accomplish  through 
longer  periods  of  service." 

In  1900  Dr.  Chapman,  with  a  large  company,  went  to 
Egypt  and  the  Holy  Land.  The  itinerary  and  all  other  ar- 
rangement for  this  journey  were  made  by  Dr.  Chapman, 
Mr.  John  Willis  Baer,  and  the  writer.  Eighty-eight  people 
were  enrolled  for  the  journey,  and  it  may  be  easily  imagined 
that  so  large  a  party  travelling  through  Egypt  and  the  Holy 
Land  would  confront  problems  of  no  small  magnitude.  Mr. 
Baer  was  unavoidably  kept  at  home,  but  the  others  sailed 
from  New  York  on  February  tenth,  on  the  S.  S.  Fuerst 
Bismarck,  Mrs.  Chapman  and  J.  Wilbur,  Jr.,  were  members 
of  the  party.  It  was  Wilbur's  first  trip  abroad  and  his  first 
experience  as  an  ocean  traveller.  He  was  a  poor  sailor, 
as  were  a  majority  of  the  others,  and  his  boy,  beside  him  on 
a  steamer  chair,  was  heard  to  remark:  "I  would  give  a 
hundred  million  dollars  if  I  were  only  at  home  and  at  school." 
Dr.  Chapman  added:  "Yes,  and  to  think  we  are  doing  this 
for  fun!" 

Five  days  after  leaving  New  York,  on  the  fifteenth  day 
of  February,  which  was  like  a  balmy  spring  day,  the  party 
arrived  at  the  Azores  and  three  days  later  were  at  Gibraltar. 
On  the  twenty-first  they  came  to  Naples,  and  on  the  day 


92       J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

following  were  transhipped  to  the  S.  S.  Umberto  I.    Dr. 
Chapman  afterward  wrote: 

This  very  name  causes  the  members  of  the  1900  Pilgrimage  to 
shudder,  for  we  ran  the  whole  distance  from  Naples  to  Alexandria  in 
the  trough  of  the  sea,  and  one  could  sit  upon  the  upper  deck  and 
touch  the  waves  as  the  vessel  rolled.  The  picture  on  the  deck,  when 
we  were  able  to  reach  it,  was,  to  say  the  least,  unique.  Here  is  a 
distinguished  New  York  minister,  with  his  hat  on  one  side  of  his  head, 
his  arm  tight  around  a  portion  of  the  rail  of  the  vessel;  now  his  hat  is 
gone,  and  now  he  himself  is  rolling  over  and  over,  frantically  grabbing 
at  everything  in  reach,  and  is  stopped  only  by  the  network  of  the  rail 
on  the  opposite  side. 

The  berths  of  the  vessel  ran  cross-ways  of  the  ship,  so  that  as  she 
rolled  to  and  fro  you  would  sleep  first  on  your  feet  and  then  on  your 
head,  and  it  became  quite  possible  for  us  all  to  sleep  in  either  way. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  February  the  party  arrived 
at  Alexandria  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  en- 
trained for  Cairo. 

Concerning  Egypt  someone  has  said:  *' Silence  broods 
over  her,  solemnity  environs  her,  and  she  is  a  land  in  which 
the  dead  alone  are  great."  The  monumental  ruins,  silent 
witnesses  to  what  was  once  a  great  but  now  a  decadent 
people,  profoundly  moved  Dr.  Chapman.  His  mind  was 
saturated  with  Biblical  teaching,  and  the  places  associated 
with  such  records  were  those  that  interested  him  most. 

We  regret  that  it  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  this 
book  to  speak  in  detail  of  the  impressions  made  upon  his 
mind  and  heart  by  this  memorable  journey.  We  feel  sure, 
however,  that,  in  the  divine  direction  by  which  his  life  was 
being  shaped,  these  varied  experiences  were  designed  to 
make  him  a  more  vivid  interpreter  of  that  Book  which  he 
was  destined  to  expound  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

After  visiting  the  first  cataract  of  the  Nile,  the  party 


A  RETROSPECT  93 

journeyed  by  rail  to  Port  Said  and  thence  by  steamer  to 
Jaffa.  Some  of  the  party  travelled  across  the  Plain  of 
Sharon  by  carriage;  others  took  the  steam  railway  to  Jeru- 
salem. Several  days  were  spent  at  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem, 
and  Hebron.  Then  arrangements  were  made  to  visit  the 
Jordan  Valley  and  the  Dead  Sea.  Captain  Thomas  Wilson 
of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was  ill  and  remained  with  his  wife,  sis- 
ter, and  daughter  at  Jerusalem.  Upon  the  return  from  the 
Jordan  Valley,  as  the  party  arrived  at  the  Inn  of  the  Good 
Samaritan,  a  courier  from  Jerusalem  met  them  with  the 
sad  announcement  that  Captain  Wilson  had  died.  In 
profound  grief  the  party  returned  to  the  city.  The  afflicted 
family  found  some  measure  of  comfort  in  the  assurance  that 
they  could  bear  with  them  the  body  of  their  beloved  dead 
to  America.  At  Jaffa  the  party  separated.  The  Wilsons 
sailed  on  a  Khedival  steamer  to  Alexandria  and  thence 
to  Marseilles  and  Paris.  At  Cherbourg  they  embarked  for 
New  York.  The  other  members  of  the  party  sailed  to 
Haifa  and  thence  by  rail  to  Nazareth.  The  usual  route  was 
then  followed  to  Tiberias,  the  Plain  of  Bashan,  Damascus, 
Baalbac,  and  Beyrout.  From  thence  they  sailed  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  returned  via  Athens  and  Corinth  to 
Brindisi  and  Rome  where  the  party  disintegrated  in  various 
directions  through  Europe. 

During  the  trip  Dr.  Chapman  wrote  a  series  of  articles 
for  an  American  journal  which  reveal  how  deep  and  abiding 
were  the  impressions  made  upon  him. 

We  have  space  only  for  one  quotation  from  an  account 
he  wrote  of  a  Sunday  morning  service  held  in  the  Chapel 
of  the  Ascension  on  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

We  started  forth  from  Jerusalem  that  we  might  worship  together 
on  the  Mount  of  Olives.    About  eleven  o'clock  we  had  passed  the 


94      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Russian  Tower,  and  a  few  minutes  later  we  were  seated  in  a  little 
cleft  of  a  rock  where  possibly  our  Saviour  had  met  His  disciples 
centuries  ago,  in  sight  of  Bethany  and  the  country  He  loved  so  well. 
We  read  those  passages  of  Scripture  that  had  to  do  with  His  experience 
in  the  regions  about  us,  and  the  Bible  became  a  new  book  as  there 
we  studied  it.  We  were  hushed  into  silent  prayer  for  a  few  minutes 
and  then  someone — I  never  could  tell  who — led  us  in  a  vocal  prayer, 
asking  God's  blessing  upon  us  and  the  dear  ones  at  our  homes.  Silently 
and  in  the  true  spirit  of  worship  we  walked  to  the  place  where  tradi- 
tion says  the  Saviour  ascended.  I  know  very  well  that  the  Scriptures 
declare  that  He  led  them  out  as  far  as  to  Bethany  and  was  parted 
from  them,  but  nevertheless  the  traditional  spot  had  a  strange  fasci- 
nation for  us  all.  In  a  little  octagonal  chapel  we  stood  with  clasped 
hands  in  a  circle.  Just  before  us  was  the  stone  where  they  say  He  last 
stood,  and  while  we  stood  thus  together  one  pilgrim  came  in  that  he 
might  touch  his  hands  and  his  lips  to  the  print  of  His  foot  in  the  stone. 
There  is  the  strangest  echo  effect  in  this  little  chapel,  and  as  you  sing, 
somehow  your  voice  seems  to  be  touched  with  the  music  of  heaven. 
Softly  we  breathed  out  the  old  hymn,  "Nearer,  my  God  to  Thee,"  and 
then  prayer  was  offered  for  the  churches  at  home,  the  friends  from 
whom  we  were  separated,  ministers  of  the  Gospel  everywhere  that 
they  might  preach  and  live  in  the  power  of  His  triumphant  ascension, 
and  then,  remembering  that  one  day  it  is  said  His  feet  shall  stand  upon 
that  mountain  when  He  comes  again,  we  sang  in  closing  our  service: 

"It  may  be  at  morn,  when  the  day  is  awaking. 
When  sunlight  through  darkness  and  shadow  is  breaking, 
That  Jesus  will  come  in  the  fullness  of  glory, 
To  receive  from  the  world  His  own. 

Oh,  joy!    Oh,  delight!    should  we  go  without  dying; 
No  sickness,  no  sadness,  no  dread  and  no  crying; 
Caught  up  through  the  clouds  with  the  Lord  into  glory, 
When  Jesus  receives  His  own!" 

And  we  came  down  from  the  mountain  feeling,  every  one  of  us,  that 
we  had  been  face  to  face  with  our  blessed  Lord,  who  often  journeyed 
there. 

With  such  years  of  preparation  lying  behind  him,  Dr. 
Chapman  returned  to  New  York  to  complete  his  ministry 
in  the  Fourth  Church,  and  thereafter  to  give  himself  in 


A  RETROSPECT  95 

unwearied  service  to  all  of  the  churches.  Quietly  and 
modestly,  God  still  directing  and  leading  him  to  the  high 
places  of  privilege,  he  went  on  to  the  altitudes  where  his 
name  was  to  be  recorded  among  those  of  the  great  spiritual 
harvesters  ordained  to  reap  in  fields  that  others  have  sown. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SUMMER  CONFERENCES 

The  study  of  the  Bible  at  Summer  Conferences  has  in 
these  later  years  become  a  distinctive  feature  in  the  religious 
life  of  America.  During  Dr.  Chapman's  earlier  ministry 
there  were  comparatively  few  of  these  Conferences;  but  later, 
and  largely  because  of  his  deep  interest  in  them,  they  multi- 
plied with  great  rapidity.  Among  the  first  in  which  he 
became  interested  was  that  held  for  a  number  of  years  at 
Niagara  on  the  Lake.  Thither  he  was  drawn  first  by  the 
influence  of  Mrs.  Strain  and  afterward  by  the  name  and 
fame  of  the  great  Bible  teachers  who  by  their  teaching  made 
the  Conference  conspicuous,  moulded  the  thought  and 
vitally  affected  the  spiritual  life  of  many  younger  ministers. 

*' Those  were  days" — so  declares  a  recent  writer — "of 
Brookes  and  West  and  Parsons  and  Erdman  and  Moore- 
head  and  Nicholson  and  Needham  and  Gordon.  Oh,  what 
discussions  were  held  in  those  days!  How  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  was  exalted,  how  the  Holy  Spirit  was  honoured,  and 
how  the  Bible  was  expounded!  The  bread  of  life  broken 
and  distributed  at  the  Niagara  Bible  Conference  is  feeding 
the  children  of  God  in  this  land  to  this  day." 

Some  fourteen  "Articles  of  Belief,"  expressing  in  clear 
and  terse  language  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity, 
were  framed  and  adopted.  During  the  Conferences  these 
themes  were  under  constant  consideration  and  the  leaders 
permitted  the  intrusion  of  nothing  else  that  might  tend  to 

96 


SUMMER  CONFERENCES  97 

lower  the  spiritual  atmosphere.  For  such  Conferences  Dr. 
Chapman  manifested  an  interest  that  continued  throughout 
his  life.  Wherever  held  he  was  in  demand  as  a  speaker, 
and  his  name  upon  the  programme  was  always  heralded 
as  a  notable  and  attractive  feature.  For  years  he  was  the 
leader  of  the  Bible  Conference  at  Winona  Lake,  Indiana, 
which  under  his  direction  had  its  period  of  greatest  prosper- 
ity. 

The  Rev.  Sol.  C.  Dickey,  the  founder  and  now  General 
Secretary  of  the  Winona  Conference,  first  met  Dr.  Chapman 
in  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  during  January  of  1884.  Dr. 
Dickey  had  been  at  Chautauqua  and  at  Northfield  and  he 
conceived  the  idea  of  combining  the  features  of  those  two 
institutions  into  one  at  Winona  Lake.  He  had  a  conference 
with  Mr.  Moody  who  advised  him  to  secure  if  possible  the 
cooperation  of  Dr.  Chapman  who  at  that  time  was  filling 
an  engagement  with  Mr.  Moody  at  Northfield.  Mr. 
Moody,  from  his  earliest  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Chapman, 
had  followed  his  carreer  with  the  deepest  interest,  encourag- 
ing the  evangelistic  gifts  that  he  so  clearly  discerned  in  him. 
He  had  been  one  of  the  famous  group  of  speakers  secured 
by  Mr.  Moody  for  that  wonderful  series  of  meetings  in 
Chicago  during  the  World's  Fair.  These  men  were  brought 
together  and  entertained  by  Mr.  Moody  at  the  Bible  In- 
stitute. Dr.  Chapman  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  popu- 
lar speakers  of  the  group.  Mr.  Moody's  affection  for  him 
was  sincere  and  deep,  and  for  years,  at  the  Northfield 
Conferences,  he  was  a  guest  and  one  of  the  notable  speakers. 
Considering  such  warm  attachment  it  is  no  wonder  that 
Mr.  Moody  should  have  recommended  him  as  the  leader 
of  the  Winona  Bible  Conference  Movement  which,  as  then 
outlined  by  Dr.  Dickey,  he  most  heartily  approved.    After 


98      J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

some  hesitation  Dr.  Chapman  consented  to  accept  the  lead- 
ership of  the  Bible  Conference,  and  the  following  summer 
the  first  of  these,  attended  by  some  three  of  four  hundred, 
was  held.    In  a  reminiscence  of  those  days  Dr.  Dickey  says : 

The  first  night  will  never  be  forgotten  because  of  a  terrible  thunder 
and  wind  storm  which  came  up  just  at  the  hour  of  opening.  The  roof 
of  the  Auditorium  was  leaking  and  the  thirty-nine  men  and  women 
present  were  called  by  Doctor  Chapman  to  the  platform  and  then  and 
there  held  the  first  session  of  the  first  Winona  Conference. 

For  the  following  fourteen  years  he  gave  himself  in  un- 
wearied sacrifice  and  devotion  to  the  development  of  the 
Conference.  His  name  more  than  anything  else  drew  in- 
creasing multitudes,  especially  of  ministers,  to  the  annual 
meeting,  and  it  is  perhaps  safe  to  say  that  no  Conference 
held  in  this  country  or  perhaps  any  place  else  in  the  world 
has  exerted  a  greater  influence  over  the  lives  of  more  min- 
isters. The  early  and  phenomenal  growth  in  those  days 
of  Winona  has  been  generously  attributed  by  Dr.  Dickey  to 
the  loyal  and  unfaltering  cooperation  of  Dr.  Chapman. 
Through  his  influence  Strain  Hall,  named  in  memory  of 
Mrs.  Chapman's  mother,  was  constructed,  contributions 
being  secured  through  Mr.  Walter  M.  Smith,  one  of  Dr. 
Chapman's  most  generous  of  friends.  Two  other  buildings, 
Evangel  Hall,  used  as  the  headquarters  of  evangelists,  and 
Kosciusko  Lodge,  where  ministers  on  small  salaries  were  en- 
tertained free  of  cost,  were  secured  to  the  Winona  Assembly 
through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Chapman.  He  cooperated 
also  in  the  founding  and  establishing  of  the  Boys'  School 
and  the  Girls'  Conservatory  of  Music.  The  School  for 
Boys  was  opened  in  September,  1902,  when  Professor  H.  E. 
DuBois,  brother-in-law  of  Dr.  Chapman,  was  secured  as 
principal.    At  that  time  Professor  DuBois  was  engaged 


SUMMER  CONFERENCES  99 

in  educational  work  at  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  and  he  left 
his  great  work  there  in  order  that  he  might  take  up  the 
direction  of  the  Winona  Academy  which  under  his  efficient 
management  became  from  the  first  a  pronounced  success. 
Scores  of  boys,  otherwise  without  resources  to  meet  the 
expenses  of  their  education,  were  enabled  by  the  generosity 
of  Dr.  Chapman  and  others  whom  he  interested  to  enter 
and  graduate  from  the  Academy.  He  was  a  director  of 
the  school,  never  failing  to  attend  the  meetings,  and  con- 
tinued to  hold  that  position  until  he  and  Professor  DuBois 
resigned  in  1908,  the  latter  to  enter  upon  educational  work 
elsewhere  and  Dr.  Chapman  to  prepare  for  his  evangelistic 
trip  around  the  world. 

Soon  after  accepting  the  leadership  of  the  Summer  Con- 
ference, Dr.  Chapman  built  a  small  cottage  on  the  Assembly 
grounds,  not  far  from  the  old  Indian  Mound,  which  will 
forever  remain  associated  in  the  minds  of  hundreds  of 
ministers  with  the  day  of  their  renewed  consecration 
to  God.  The  very  name  "Indian  Mound"  will  awaken  in 
many  a  one  some  of  the  most  hallowed  memories  of  the 
past. 

In  1902  he  built  the  artistic  and  commodious  bungalow 
across  from  the  golf  links,  and  this  home  during  the 
Conference  period  became  the  centre  of  the  generous 
hospitality  extended  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  to  relatives, 
friends,  and  distinguished  guests.  As  leader  of  the  Bible 
Conference  he  was  in  a  position  to  secure  teachers,  able  and 
distinguished  in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  During  the 
Conference  he  invariably  entertained  them  in  his  own 
home. 

For  the  Salvation  Army  he  had  a  profound  affection  and 
admiration.    In  his  later  years  he  came  into  personal  con- 


100     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

tact  with  General  Booth,  the  founder  of  the  movement,  and 
loved  him  for  his  unflinching  loyalty  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
The  Army  was  no  mere  foregathering:  it  was  a  body  born 
of  a  spiritual  revolution. 

In  1865  the  General  shook  from  his  neck  the  yoke  of 
Ecclesiasticism  and,  in  White  Chapel  Road,  sounded  a 
trumpet  blast  that  is  still  reverberating  in  every  part  of  the 
world. 

Under  "the  blood  and  fire  flag"  of  this  organization  there 
has  assembled  an  army  of  soldiers  the  like  of  which  has  never 
before  been  seen.  With  their  swords  ''bathed  in  heaven" 
they  have  fought  against  principalities  and  powers,  by  day 
and  by  night,  through  cold  and  heat,  carrying  their  message 
of  hope  and  love  to  the  people  of  every  clime  and  tongue. 
Neither  shall  their  warfare  cease  until,  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  having  become  the  kingdom  of  our  God  and  His 
Christ,  they  shall  drape  their  banners  around  the  Throne 
of  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

The  commander-in-chief  of  this  army  in  the  United 
States,  Miss  Evangeline  Booth,  in  her  attractive  personahty 
combines  the  grace  and  charm  of  her  distinguished  mother 
with  the  executive  force  of  the  General,  her  father.  By 
winsome,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  appeal  no  woman  of  her 
generation  has  more  profoundly  moved  such  multitudes  of 
men  and  women.  On  invitation  of  Dr.  Chapman  she  went 
to  Winona  and  there  addressed  a  vast  audience,  taking  as 
her  text  Isaiah  9:6 — ''His  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful." 
So  deep  was  the  impression  made  upon  the  hundreds  of 
ministers  there  gathered  that  many  of  them  were  in  tears 
and  spent  hours  of  the  night  in  prayer.  Dr.  Chapman 
himself  was  so  deeply  affected  by  the  Commander's  search- 
ing and  inspiring  call  to  consecration  of  self  and  service  to 


SUMMER  CONFERENCES  101 

Grod  that  thereafter  lie  repeatedly  implored  her  to  help  him 
in  his  simultaneous  evangelistic  campaigns. 

These  two,  so  extraordinarily  gifted  in  their  different  and 
yet  similar  spheres  of  service,  were  of  kindred  spirit,  with 
the  same  objective,  and  alike  impelled  by  a  burning  passion 
to  proclaim  the  Gospel  of  Christ  as  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation.  Their  spiritual  fellowship  gave  to  Dr.  Chapman 
a  new  and  comprehensive  conception  of  the  worth  and 
possibilities  of  that  invincible  host  recruited  from  the  poor 
and  the  lowly — as  their  founder  describes  them — *'a  mis- 
sion of  the  poor  to  the  poor." 

To  the  ranks  of  this  army  he  was  devoted  and  they  to 
him,  and  wherever  he  went  they  gave  him  their  enthusiastic 
and  imdivided  support. 

For  another  devoted  body  of  men  and  women,  known 
generally  as  Rescue  Mission  Workers,  Dr.  Chapman  had  a 
like  warm  affection,  and  never  failed  to  give  them  the 
honourable  recognition  they  deserved.  Such  recognition 
was  invariably  accorded  at  the  Summer  Conferences  under 
Dr.  Chapman's  leadership.  Often  the  leaders  of  these 
mission  workers  were  entertained  by  him  in  his  beautiful 
home  at  Winona.  An  annual  guest  was  Mr.  S.  H.  Hadley, 
Superintendent  of  the  famous  old  McAuley  Mission,  316 
Water  Street,  New  York.  To  Mr.  Hadley  he  was 
peculiarly  attached  and  often  went  to  the  Water  Street 
Mission  to  behold  the  miracle  of  salvation  from  the  deepest 
depths  of  sin.  His  interest  did  not  cease  with  the  death  of 
Mr.  Hadley.  Of  that  truly  great  man  he  wrote  a  most 
interesting  biography.  He  continued  also  his  support  of 
the  mission,  always  manifesting  a  deep  and  abiding  affection 
for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  H.  Wybum,  the  efficient  successors 
of  Mr.  Hadley. 


102     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

During  the  Summer  Conferences  at  Winona  it  was  the 
custom  to  have  Mr.  Hadley  speak  on  the  day  of  his  spiritual 
birth  and  at  the  conclusion  of  his  address  to  receive  an 
offering  for  the  support  of  the  mission.  Such  offerings 
frequently  amounted  to  large  sums  which  Mr.  Hadley  in 
his  generosity  of  heart  distributed  with  the  gushing  felicity 
of  a  spring  freshet.  Many  letters,  still  preserved,  reveal 
the  deep  affection  for  each  other  of  these  two  men 
whose  spheres  of  service  were  so  strikingly  different.  In 
a  letter  dated  August  twenty-eighth,  1904,  Mr.  Hadley 
writes: 


My  precious  Brother: 

I  wish  I  could  find  words  to  say  what  I  think  of  my  birthday  party, 
and  how  beautifully  it  was  arranged  and  carried  out. 

I  never  saw  your  equal  on  this  old  earth,  always  thinking  of  others, 
always  moved  by  love  to  see  how  you  can  make  someone  happy. 
Dear  Brother,  why  don't  you  preach  more!  I  believe  hundreds 
of  hearts  are  longing  for  a  prayer  and  praise  and  consecration 
meeting  as  led  by  you.  I  have  prayed,  and  so  have  others, 
that  God  would  smash  the  programme  and  lead  you  to  do  this. 
Many  preachers  are  here  in  sin  and  backslidden  life  and  have 
come  here  to  get  back  to  Calvary.  But  I  started  to  tell  you 
how  much  I  love  you  and  how  much  I  thank  you  for  my  birthday 
party. 

In  the  following  year,  Mr.  Hadley  writes  again  under 
date  of  August  thirty-first,  1905: 

How  much  I  do  owe  you  for  all  you  have  been  to  me  in  my  Christian 
life  and  walk;  an  inspiration  to  me  to  press  on  and  fight  on  till  Jesus 
comes  to  me  and  says:  "It  is  enough."  This  last  conference  has 
been  more  to  me  than  I  can  describe.  My  work  and  the  many  cares 
and  burdens  the  dear  Lord  has  laid  upon  me  had  well  nigh  weighted 
me  down.  But  those  ten  days  in  your  lovely  home  with  your  precious 
wife  and  your  children— how  thankful  I  am  for  it  all.    You  are  as 


SUMMER  CONFERENCES  103 

strong  as  a  lion;  as  vigilant  as  a  hawk,  and  yet  with  allrthe  tenderness 
and  compassion  of  a  sweet  woman. 


Few  more  touching  tributes  than  are  embodied  in  these 
letters  have  ever  been  paid  to  any  one. 

The  home,  enshrining  for  many  another  besides  Mr. 
Hadley  the  happiest  of  memories,  was  planned  largely  by 
Mrs.  Chapman  who  selected  all  of  the  decorations,  fitted 
them  with  her  own  hand,  and  poured  out  her  heart  in 
what  she  purposed  to  make  a  happy  and  hallowed  retreat 
for  her  husband  and  her  children.  Of  that  home  she  was 
herself  the  radiant  centre.  Her  character  was  of  wonderful 
beauty  and  worthy  of  the  great  lineage  that  could  be  traced 
back  to  the  aristocracy  of  Holland.  Her  father  was  a 
devout  Christian,  sincere  and  true  even  to  brusqueness,  but 
dependable,  sturdy,  unselfish.  Her  mother  was  altogether 
worthy  of  the  loving  tributes  that  flowed  in  upon  the  family 
when  she  died.  Mrs.  Chapman  emulated  both  of  her 
parents.  The  practicable  strength  of  her  father  modified  by 
the  glowing  sweetness  of  her  mother.  Her  death,  which 
occurred  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  1907,  brought  in- 
expressible sorrow  to  a  great  host  that  knew  and  loved  hen 
In  the  weird  light  that  precedes  the  dawn,  without  a 
quiver  of  fear,  without  an  evidence  of  pain,  but  in  sweet 
assurance  she  escaped  beyond  the  crystal  light  which 
comes  between  the  dawn  and  the  daybreak  and  met  her 
Lord.  We  went  out,  Wilbur  and  myself,  and  stood  to- 
gether under  the  stars.  He  looked  up  and  away  into  their 
mysterious  depths  and  said,  ''I  wish  I  knew  what  lies 
beyond."  It  was  but  the  shadow  of  an  eclipse  and  soon 
gone.  Faith,  so  under-girded  as  was  his,  may  bend  but  it 
never  breaks.    None  but  he  alone  knew  the  measure  of  his 


104     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

loss.  In  a  brief  but  touching  biography  the  story  of  her 
life  has  been  told.  She  sleeps  now  in  the  rural  cemetery  at 
Albany,  New  York,  her  grave  marked  by  a  massive  stone 
on  which  is  inscribed: 

WIFE  OF  J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN,  D.D. 

AND  MOTHER  OF 

ROBERT  STRAIN,  3RD 

J.  WILBUR,  JR. 

AGNES  PRUYN,  4TH 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  2ND 

So  much  space  is  devoted  to  Winona  because  with  it  are 
associated  so  many  of  such  sacred  memories. 

With  the  world  calling  him,  and  with  no  mother  to  look 
after  his  children,  Dr.  Chapman's  future  might  have 
seemed  dark  and  uncertain  had  it  not  been  that,  as  in  his 
childhood  days,  so  now,  there  came  forward  a  devoted 
sister  to  whom  in  all  confidence  he  could  commit  the  care  of 
his  children  while  he  was  away  on  his  mission  for  God. 
This  sister  Jessie,  now  Mrs.  H.  E.  DuBois,  deserves  a 
nobler  tribute  than  could  be  here  expressed.  In  her  devo- 
tion, her  fidelity,  her  unwearied  care  of  those  children  she 
made  possible  a  larger  service  for  her  distinguished  brother, 
and  though  perhaps  inconspicuous  and  unknown  to  the 
world,  all  that  she  has  so  unselfishly  done  must  be  made 
manifest  *'in  that  day." 

During  his  later  years  Dr.  Chapman  became  especially 
interested  in  two  other  Conferences,  one  at  Montreat, 
North  Carolina,  and  the  other  at  Stony  Brook,  Long  Island, 
New  York.    The  former  is  mentioned  in  a  recent  circular: 

Montreat,  situated  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  picturesque,  and 
healthful  mountain  sections  of  America,  nearly  in  the  geographical 


SUMMER  CONFERENCES  105 

centre  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  commonly 
known  as  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  is  owned  and  controlled 
by  the  several  Synods  composing  the  General  Assembly. 

In  this  beautiful  mountain  resort  the  various  agencies  of 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  meet  for  religious  and 
educational  Conferences  during  the  summer  months. 

Dr.  Chapman,  by  his  personality  and  by  his  unbending 
defence  of  the  Scripture,  had  endeared  himself  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church  South,  and  some  of  his  most  effective 
evangelistic  work  was  done  in  that  section  of  our  country. 
At  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
South  held  at  Newport  News,  Virginia,  in  1915,  Dr. 
Chapman  received  a  rising  vote  of  thanks  for  an  address 
delivered  by  him,  and  the  same  Assembly  adopted  and 
ordered  sent  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  a  telegram  as 
follows: 

Rev.  William  H.  Roberts,  D.D., 
Presbyterian  General  Assembly, 
Rochester,  New  York. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.  wishes 
to  express  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.  A. 
its  sincere  appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  by  Rev.  J.  Wilbur 
Chapman,  D.D.  Four  services  were  held  under  the  direction  of 
Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander,  and  they  will  ever  be  memorable 
for  their  spiritual  power.  We  believe  that  the  Presbyterian  Church 
U.  S.  is  entering  upon  a  great  spiritual  revival.  The  services  of  Doctor 
Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  at  Atlanta,  Charlotte,  and  the  General 
Assembly  have  made  a  contribution  to  this  work  of  inestimable  value. 

W.  McF.  Alexander,  Moderator. 

Such  official  action  shows  clearly  in  what  high  esteem  Dr. 
Chapman  was  held  by  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church. 
For   several   years    he    conducted    the    Conferences   on 


106     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

evangelism  that  were  held  in  Montreat.  The  Rev.  R.  C. 
Anderson,  D.D.,  President  of  Montreat,  writing  of  Dr. 
Chapman,  says: 

Among  the  many  strong,  gifted,  and  godly  men  who  have  spoken 
on  the  Montreat  platform  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  had  no  superior. 
He  was  sound  in  the  faith,  learned  in  the  Scriptures,  and  was  a  strong 
believer  in  the  inspired  Word  and  its  power  and  sufficiency  under  the 
operation  of  the  Spirit  to  save  unto  the  uttermost. 

He  enjoyed  the  full  confidence,  sincere  affection,  and  admiration  of 
all  who  heard  him.  He  was  regarded  as  a  model  evangelist  and 
preacher  of  the  Word.  His  influence  over  the  ministers  especially 
was  remarkable  and  they  received  from  him  new  ideals,  fresh  in- 
spiration, zeal,  and  consecration.  As  a  result  the  whole  church  re- 
ceived a  distinct  spiritual  uplift. 

Doctor  Chapman  was  admired  and  beloved  by  the  Presbyterians  of 
the  South,  and  the  value  of  his  services  rendered  in  many  of  the 
Southern  churches  and  cities  cannot  be  overestimated. 

In  1916,  on  his  third  visit  to  the  Summer  Conference  at 
Montreat,  Dr.  Chapman  built  a  beautiful  home  within  the 
Montreat  grounds,  commanding  a  magnificent  outlook  of 
the  surrounding  Blue  Ridge  Mountains.  In  this  quiet  and 
restful  home  he  spent  as  much  of  his  time  during  the 
summer  as  the  pressure  of  other  calls  would  permit.  Dur- 
ing one  of  the  Conferences  he  preached  a  sermon  based  on 
Psalm  45:8,  under  the  inspiration  of  which  Mr.  Henry 
Barraclough,  the  musical  genius  who  succeeded  Mr. 
Harkness  as  Mr.  Alexander's  assistant,  composed  the 
words  and  music  of  "  Ivory  Palaces,"  which  was  dedicated 
to  Dr.  Chapman.  This  hymn  naturally  became  a  popular 
one  at  Montreat,  as  well  as  other  Conferences,  and  has  been 
sung  around  the  world.  It  is  perhaps  safe  to  say  that  by 
not  many  other  Gospel  hymns  has  a  congregation  been 
more  deeply  moved  than  by  this,  especially  when,  with 


SUMMER  CONFERENCES  107 

heart  and  understanding,  Mr.  Albert  Brown  and  Mrs. 
Alexander  would  sing  the  words: 

Out  of  the  ivory  palaces 
Into  a  world  of  woe, 
Only  His  great  eternal  love 
Made  my  Saviour  go. 

Dr.  Chapman  loved  Montreat  and  the  great  Principles 
to  which  the  Assembly  was  committed,  and  in  return  was 
honoured  by  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  entire 
Southern  Church. 

During  his  later  years,  more  vitally  than  perhaps  in  any- 
other  Conference,  he  was  interested  in  that  established  at 
Stony  Brook,  Long  Island,  New  York.  He  helped  to 
initiate  and  to  organize  this  movement  and  was  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Directors  from  the  very  beginning.  What 
appealed  to  him  in  this  movement  more  than  anything 
else  was  the  Platform  of  Principles,  which,  like  those  adopted 
by  the  founders  of  Niagara  on  the  Lake,  gave  expression  to 
the  great  fundamental  facts  of  Revelation  without  which 
Christianity  has  no  foundation.  This  declaration  of  faith 
is  incorporated  in  the  Charter  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  New  York  and  is  perhaps  the  only  legal  document 
of  like  character  in  existence.  It  was  Dr.  Chapman's 
intention  to  erect  a  home  at  Stony  Brook  as  may  be  shown 
by  a  letter  dated  August  fourth,  1918,  and  written  at 
Montreat,  North  Carolina,  in  which  he  requested  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  to  act  with  him  in  the  super- 
vision of  a  great  Summer  Conference  for  Theological 
Students  to  be  held  in  the  proposed  home  which  in  accord- 
ance with  the  terms  of  the  letter  was  to  be  in  operation  not 
later  than  the  summer  of  1919.    The  agreement  also 


108     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

specified  that  when  the  building  was  not  in  use  for  the 
Conference  of  Theological  Students  it  should  be  used  by 
the  Stony  Brook  Assembly  for  the  free  entertainment  of 
ministers  on  small  salaries.  It  was  his  expressed  purpose  to 
assume  the  leadership  of  the  annual  Bible  Conference  and 
much  time  and  thought  had  been  given  to  the  preparation 
of  a  programme  which  was  to  be  under  his  personal  super- 
vision. 

His  unfaltering  support  was  given  both  to  Montreat  and 
to  Stony  Brook  because  of  their  unqualified  declaration  of 
faith  in  the  divine  authority  of  Holy  Scripture  and  the 
supreme  glory  of  the  Person  of  Christ.  Enduring  memo- 
rials, the  tribute  of  unfailing  love,  both  at  Montreat 
and  at  Stony  Brook,  will  keep  him  in  cherished  remem- 
brance. 

The  Summer  Conferences,  advanced  along  constructive 
and  conservative  lines,  are  destined  to  be  an  important 
factor  in  the  development  of  the  religious  life  of  our  people 
and,  if  developed  in  a  manner  that  won  the  admiration  and 
support  of  Dr.  Chapman,  they  may  justly  expect  the 
sympathy  and  support  of  Christian  people  who  feel  the 
need  of  uniting  in  one  great  volume  of  testimony  to  the  full 
authority  and  integrity  of  God's  Word. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  CHORAL  COEFFICIENT 

Paul  had  a  passionate  desire  to  visit  the  Thessalonians, 
but,  "hindered  by  satan"  from  going,  he  sent  Timothy  to 
them,  and  was  "left  at  Athens  alone."  What  a  pathos  in 
that  expression!  A  cold  and  cheerless  prospect  for  a 
solitary  herald  of  the  Cross! 

Who,  left  alone  on  some  evangelistic  mission,  with  any 
passion  for  the  salvation  of  men,  has  not  felt,  in  the  midst 
of  the  thoughtless,  heedless  throngs,  surging  along  life's 
pathway,  indifferent  to  God,  the  loneliness  of  soul  that 
must  have  oppressed  Paul  when  "left  at  Athens  alone"? 

Either  in  loneliness  or  in  companionship  we  must  un- 
ravel the  tangled  threads  of  life.  When  we  think  of  the 
blessing  of  fellowship  we  do  not  wonder  that  the  Lord 
ordained  that  His  disciples  should  go  forth  two  by  two. 

Any  sketch  of  Dr.  Chapman's  evangelistic  work  would  be 
incomplete  without  some  reference  to  the  consecrated 
genius  of  song,  Charles  M.  Alexander,  in  whom  God  has 
incarnated  "the  spirit  of  praise"  which  to-day,  as  of  old, 
"is  the  spirit  of  power." 

Mr.  Alexander  was  bom  within  the  period  of  the  Civil 
War,  about  three  hundred  miles  to  the  south  but  on  almost 
the  same  meridian  with  Dr.  Chapman.  The  place  of  his 
birth  was  unpretentious  but,  like  many  another  Southern 
farm,  had  its  great  hickory  well-sweep,  and  was  sheltered 
by  the  graceful,  feathery  plumes  of  the  white  ash  that 

109 


no     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

flourishes  so  exuberantly  in  Southern  soil.  If  there  was  no 
pretension  to  wealth,  neither  was  there  any  evidence  of 
poverty.  The  house  was  kept  in  repair,  the  lawns  were 
smooth  and  green,  the  fences  stood  erect,  and  no  weeds 
were  tolerated;  for  this  was  a  Southern  Presbyterian 
household,  and  they  could  compete  for  neatness  with  the 
fine  old  Quaker  stock  of  the  Whitewater  Valley. 

The  house  was  located  on  the  banks  of  Cloyd's  Creek  that 
rippled  away  into  the  Holston  River.  The  river,  as  it 
swept  by  the  farm,  was  navigable  at  that  point  for  light- 
draft  steamboats.  Higher  up  in  its  sinuous  course  it  had 
come  down  through  the  foothills  of  the  Cumberland 
Mountains  in  a  limpid,  laughing,  sparkling  stream.  The 
mountain  slopes  stretched  away  in  the  distance  richly 
timbered,  and  the  valley  that  rolled  away  at  their  base, 
with  the  cloud  shadows  creeping  over  its  face,  was  of  the 
kind  to  elate  and  allure  the  lover  of  all  things  rural. 

No  wonder  that  in  after  years,  when  he  and  Mrs. 
Alexander  built  their  own  home  within  her  father's  estate  at 
Birmingham,  he  should  have  been  moved  by  hallowed 
memories  that  would  suggest  for  his  English  home  the 
name  of  "Tennessee"! 

The  home  of  his  boyhood  was  not  more  than  a  dozen 
miles  from  Maryville,  a  university  town,  which  was  after- 
ward to  have  its  moulding  influences  upon  him.  His 
first  teacher  was  the  widow  of  a  Presbyterian  minister.  She 
taught  him  how  to  read  from  a  little  black-covered  Testa- 
ment that  cost  the  sum  of  ten  cents. 

The  sole  recreation  that  seems  to  have  been  indulged  in 
by  the  Cloyd's  Creek  population  was  the  singing  of  Gospel 
hymns  which,  as  they  rang  through  the  valley,  made  their 
first  but  lasting  impressions  upon  the  mind  of  this  child 


THE  CHORAL  COEFFICIENT  111 

destined  of  God  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  song 
leaders. 

The  Southern  clime  and  the  mountain  altitudes  were 
surely  an  ideal  source  from  which  God  might  bring  forth 
that  wonderful  voice  which,  without  being  too  massive,  was 
so  incisive  that,  in  the  great  amphitheatres  of  the  country, 
it  could  cut  through  the  volume  of  five  thousand  other 
voices  of  all  timbres  like  a  Curtiss  plane  through  a  thunder 
pile. 

His  father  was  a  thorough  musician.  He  trained  the 
child  at  the  age  of  seven  years  in  the  art  of  music  and 
notation,  and  fostered  with  great  care  his  vocal  powers. 

While  working  as  a  boy  upon  the  farm  he  learned  to 
imitate  the  respective  songs  of  the  robin,  the  oriole,  and  the 
lark,  and  even  at  this  early  age  he  was  leading  and  teaching 
a  chorus  of  a  Sunday  School,  as  in  later  years  he  was 
destined  to  lead  the  thousands  in  great  gatherings  in  all 
parts  of  the  world. 

In  1881,  when  fourteen  years  of  age,  he  entered  the 
preparatory  department  of  the  College  of  Maryville  where 
he  remained  for  some  eight  or  nine  years,  during  the 
concluding  three  of  which  he  was  the  Professor  of  Music. 

From  Maryville  he  went  to  the  Moody  Bible  Institute  of 
Chicago  where  he  remained  for  some  three  and  a  half 
years,  and  then  entered  upon  his  career  as  a  leader  of  song. 

For  eight  years  he  was  associated  with  Mr.  M.  B. 
Williams,  an  evangelist  of  distinction,  and  in  1902  began 
his  work  with  Dr.  R.  A.  Torrey,  going  with  him  on  a  three 
months'  engagement  to  Australia.  Instead  of  lasting 
three  months  his  association  with  Dr.  Torrey  continued  for 
four  years,  during  which  they  made  a  tour  of  the  world. 

In  January  and  February  of  1904  they  were  together 


112     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

conducting  a  series  of  meetings  in  Birmingham,  England, 
where  they  were  entertained  at  the  home  of  Mr.  George 
Cadbury.  The  elder  brother  and  head  of  the  house,  Mr. 
Richard  Cadbury,  had  died  in  Jerusalem  on  Wednesday, 
March  twenty-second,  1899.  On  the  anniversary  of  that 
date,  March  twenty-second,  1900,  Captain  Wilson  also  died 
in  the  same  manner  and  at  the  same  place. 

The  solemn  coincidence  was  noted  although  at  the  time 
Dr.  Chapman  was  unknown  to  the  Cadburys  and  without 
anticipation  of  ever  meeting  any  member  of  that  family. 

The  body  of  Mr.  Cadbury,  hke  that  of  Captain  Wilson, 
was  taken  to  Jaffa  and  thence  by  steamer  to  Marseilles. 
At  Marseilles  the  funeral  cortege  was  met  by  Richard 
Cadbury's  two  elder  sons  and  the  body  was  borne  across 
France,  the  national  flag  as  a  mark  of  honour  and  for  pro- 
tection thrown  over  the  sacred  burden  by  order  of  the 
authorities.  It  was  not  until  April  eighth  that  the  sorrow- 
stricken  party  arrived  at  the  beautiful  home  at  Uffculme. 

Mr.  Cadbury  was  a  man  of  learning  and  of  deep  piety,  and 
he  had  distributed  his  wealth  with  great  liberality.  His 
death  was  mourned  throughout  England  and  of  him,  among 
many  other  fine  things,  it  was  said : 

Such  men  are  England's  glory,  and  help  to  redeem  us  from  that 
selfish  materialism  which  too  often  afflicts  our  prosperity. 

Birmingham  mourns  for  a  man  who  has  been  a  true  son  to  her,  a 
lover  of  his  kind,  a  large-hearted  benefactor— a  name  to  be  written 
down  in  her  story  with  letters  of  gold. 

His  widow,  like  her  lamented  husband,  was  deeply 
interested  in  all  religious  movements  of  the  day,  and  for  that 
reason  her  beautiful  home  was  thrown  open  to  the  American 
evangelists. 


THE  CHORAL  COEFFICIENT  113 

Here  Mr.  Alexander  met  Helen,  the  fourth  daughter,  to 
whom  he  became  engaged  and  to  whom  he  was  married  on 
the  fourteenth  day  of  July  of  that  year,  1904. 

Some  years  before  that  event  Mr.  Cadbury  had 
purchased  for  a  summer  home  in  the  Malvern  Hills  a 
place  known  as  '*W3md's  Point,*'  where  Jenny  Lind  the 
immortal  singer  had  lived  and  where  she  died. 

Mrs.  Alexander,  in  the  fascinating  biography  of  her 
distinguished  father,  says: 

The  Malvern  Hills  were,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  one  of  Richard  Cad- 
bury's  favourite  holiday  resorts;  the  glorious  freshness  of  the  air  which 
swept  across  them  refreshed  and  invigorated  him  like  nothing  else 
but  the  air  of  the  Swiss  mountains.  For  a  long  while  he  had  admired 
the  beautiful  spot  in  which  the  famous  singer,  Jenny  Lind,  had 
passed  the  last  five  years  of  her  life.  It  lay  in  a  hollow  of  the  hills, 
high  on  the  top  of  the  pass  which  crosses  the  range  below  the  Hereford- 
shire Beacon.  A  disused  quarry  in  one  part  of  the  grounds  forms  a 
rugged  background  of  rock  and  crag  to  the  thick  belt  of  trees  which 
shelter  the  front  of  the  house  from  the  keen  winds.  Behind  the  house, 
the  well-wooded  hillside,  enclosed  in  the  grounds,  climbs  steeply  to  the 
level  of  the  quarry's  height  and  the  top  of  the  ridge,  from  which  a 
magnificent  panorama  can  be  seen  on  all  sides.  Wynd's  Point  is  al- 
most in  the  centre  of  the  range  which  stretches  in  a  straight  line  north- 
ward past  the  Wych  and  the  Worchestershire  Beacon  to  the  bare, 
abrupt  slopes  of  the  North  Hill.  To  the  south,  the  hills  beyond  the 
Herefordshire  Beacon  are  wooded  and  irregular  in  shape,  curving 
round  the  edge  of  Lady  Henry  Somerset's  beautiful  estate  of  Eastnor 
in  diminishing  undulations.  From  the  summerhouse  above  the  quarry 
in  the  grounds  of  Wynd's  Point  you  can  see,  on  a  fine  day,  the  Welsh 
mountains  away  to  the  west,  like  purple  shadows  on  the  horizon. 
Turning  toward  the  east,  the  smoke  of  Cheltenham  rises  beyond 
Bredon,  under  the  Cotswolds,  and  to  the  extreme  right  and  left  the 
square  towers  of  the  cathedrals  in  Gloucester  and  Worcester  are 
silhouetted  against  the  silvery  cloud  of  smoke  hanging  over  the  towns. 

The  peace  and  quiet,  the  majestic  curves  of  the  hills,  the  glorious 
outlook  over  plain  and  valley  on  either  side,  the  wild  life  to  be  studied 
in  birds,  squirrels,  and  rabbits,  the  scent  of  the  gorse,  the  sound  of  the 
wind  sighing  in  the  trees  or  sweeping  in  a  hurricane  over  the  wide 


114     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

expanse— all  these  things  made  Wynd's  Point  an  ideal  nature's  play- 
ground. Its  associations  with  the  sweet  singer  who  had  breathed  her 
last  within  it  added  a  sense  of  romance  to  everything. 

In  this  charming  and  romantic  place  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Alexander  spent  the  first  days  of  their  honeymoon  and  then 
sailed  for  America  to  fulfil  various  engagements. 

While  the  World's  Fair  was  in  progress  at  St.  Louis,  Dr. 
Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  were  together  and  were 
scheduled  to  hold  a  meeting  at  a  place  called  ''The  Inside 
Inn/'  located  within  the  Fair  grounds.  Arrangements  had 
been  made  to  hold  the  meeting  in  the  lobby  of  the  hotel  on  a 
Sunday  afternoon.  The  crowd  that  assembled  was  not 
large,  but,  as  it  had  happened  before  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Winona  Conference,  so  here,  a  terrific  thunder  storm  swept 
over  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  the  rain  poured  down  in 
torrents,  driving  hundreds  of  people  into  the  hotel  for 
shelter.  In  this  manner  was  brought  together  the  first 
audience  to  hear  from  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander 
their  message  of  sermon  and  song. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  they  held  another  meeting 
in  the  great  Music  Hall  of  the  city  and  as  a  result  of  this 
meeting  there  were  a  number  of  definite  conversions. 

During  the  following  summer,  at  the  Bible  Conference  at 
Winona,  they  were  again  together,  and  Mr.  Alexander  had 
the  leadership  of  the  great  chorus. 

Upon  the  return  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  to  England, 
following  their  wedding  journey  to  America,  Dr.  Torrey  and 
Mr.  Alexander  conducted  evangelistic  meetings  throughout 
Great  Britain. 

At  the  close  of  the  London  Mission  Mr.  Alexander 
returned  to  America  to  attend  a  Christian  Workers' 
Conference  at  Northfield,  Massachusetts. 


THE  CHORAL  COEFFICIENT  115 

Mrs.  Alexander  had  been  in  poor  health,  and,  just  prior 
to  Mr.  Alexander's  sailing  for  America,  she  was  obliged  to 
undergo  a  serious  operation.  She  had  hoped,  after  the 
operation,  to  join  her  husband,  but  she  grew  worse  instead 
of  better.  In  July  of  the  following  year  Mr.  Alexander 
returned  to  England,  in  great  sorrow  of  heart,  having  been 
warned  that  his  wife  could  not  possibly  live  for  more  than  a 
month  or  two.  But  human  judgment,  however,  is  not  in- 
fallible. God  had  predetermined  a  great  and  blessed  service 
for  Mrs.  Alexander  in  connection  with  the  work  of  her  hus- 
band. Another  serious  operation  was  performed  and  for 
months  life  seemed  to  hang  in  the  balance.  The  doctor 
advised  a  long  sea  voyage,  and  Mr.  Alexander,  without  any 
hesitation,  cancelled  his  contract  with  Dr.  Torrey  that  he 
might  devote  himself  to  the  care  of  his  wife.  By  what 
seemed  to  be  a  miracle  Mrs.  Alexander  slowly  returned  to 
health,  but  she  was  obliged  to  live  constantly  upon  the  ocean. 
Together  they  made  long  voyages  to  China  and  Australia, 
returning  to  England  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer 
of  1907.  Fully  restored,  to  the  marvel  of  many,  Mrs.  Alex- 
ander now  looked  forward  with  keen  anticipation  to  the 
great  work  that  lay  open  before  them  both.  But  in  May 
a  cloud  of  sorrow  overshadowed  the  Birmingham  home  and 
Mrs.  Alexander's  mother  passed  away  into  the  glory  land. 
That  summer  Mr.  Alexander  returned  to  America,  his  wife 
remaining  in  England  for  the  mournful  duty  of  breaking  up 
the  dear  old  family  home. 

Dr.  Torrey  had,  in  the  meantime,  become  identified  with 
the  Bible  Institute  of  Los  Angeles,  and  he  was  therefore 
unable  to  continue  in  evangelistic  work  as  exclusively  as 
before.  This  led  to  a  termination  of  his  contract  with  Mr. 
Alexander. 


116     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Early  in  January,  1908,  Dr.  Chapman  was  holding  a 
series  of  meetings  in  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  Mr.  Alex- 
ander was  with  him,  and  they  considered  the  possibility  of 
going  together  on  a  world-wide  tour. 

January  twenty-fourth,  1908,  Dr.  Chapman  wrote  to  Mr. 
Converse,  the  Chairman  of  the  Evangelistic  Committee, 
rehearsing  a  conversation  he  had  had  that  morning  with 
Mr.  Alexander  in  reference  to  the  proposed  union  of  their 
forces  in  future  evangelistic  work: 

It  is  proposed  that  Mr.  Alexander's  engagement  with  me  is  to  begin 
with  the  Philadelphia  meetings,  and  that  he  is  to  be  with  me  in  two 
districts,  the  one  centring,  possibly  in  Bethany  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  the  other  in  the  Baptist  Temple.  The  future  plans  call  for  my 
absence  from  the  country  for  three  months  beginning  with  the  fall  for 
possible  campaigns  in  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  or  in  one  or 
more  of  these  countries  as  Providence  may  indicate.  It  is  then  pro- 
posed that  we  return  to  America  for  a  series  of  conferences  in  the 
larger  cities  of  the  country  where  there  are  great  auditoriums  and  that 
Three  Day  Conferences  be  arranged  for  us,  where  pastors  and  church 
officers  from  the  entire  state  should  be  asked  to  attend.  It  is  further 
proposed,  if  the  way  is  opened,  to  enter  upon  the  Simultaneous  Work 
in  our  own  country;  the  only  change  from  the  present  Simultaneous 
Movement  being  that  Mr.  Alexander  and  myself  are  to  have  a  larger 
central  district. 

When  the  work  in  this  country  is  completed,  if  the  way  is  opened,  a 
three  months'  campaign  will  be  planned  for  Australia,  beginning  with 
May,  1909. 

It  is  understood  that  this  combination  is  not  to  affect  my  con- 
nection with  our  Evangelistic  Committee,  and  that  I  am  to  have  the 
same  responsibility  regarding  this  work  in  the  future  that  I  have  had  in 
the  past. 

The  letter  continues  with  a  statement  of  the  personnel 
of  the  company  to  be  made  up  together  with  some  other 
detail  of  arrangement  and  then  concludes  as  follows: 

When  my  mission  in  this  country  seems  ended  for  a  season,  I  would 
like  to  preach  the  Gospel  around  the  world  in  connection  with  Mr. 


THE  CHORAL  COEFFICIENT  117 

Alexander,  and  when  this  mission  has  been  fulfilled  it  is  the  hope  and 
dream  of  my  life  that  the  last  years  of  my  evangelistic  experience  may 
be  devoted  to  preaching  to  the  poor.  I  have  long  dreamed  that  I 
might  some  day,  when  I  am  sufficiently  well  known,  enter  into  a  city 
and  with  the  cooperation  of  the  pastors,  conduct  a  mission  in  harmony 
with  the  work  of  the  Salvation  Army  and  other  missionary  organiza- 
tions, and  thus  leave  my  testimony  with  the  people  who  are  now  in 
some  ways  out  of  sympathy  with  the  Church. 

I  neglected  to  say  that  it  is  understood  that  the  meetings  conducted 
by  Mr.  Alexander  and  myself  be  known  as  "The  Chapman- Alexander 
Simultaneous  Evangelistic  Meetings." 

With  sincere  regards,  I  am, 

Cordially  yours, 

J.  Wilbur  Chapman. 


To  the  above  proposition  Mr.  Converse  gave  his  hearty 
approval,  and  Articles  of  Agreement  were  drawn  up  and 
signed.  The  first  engagement  was  arranged  for  Philadel- 
phia, beginning  March  twelfth,  1908,  and  lasting  until 
April  nineteenth,  1908.  The  association  thereafter  was  to 
continue  until  terminated  by  a  notice  of  thirty  days  on  the 
part  of  either. 

So  began  the  association  of  these  two  remarkable  men 
which  continued  unbroken  for  eleven  years. 

During  the  Philadelphia  campaign  the  Pocket  Testa- 
ment League  was  officially  launched.  But  the  fascinating 
history  of  this  very  remarkable  movement  has  appeared 
elsewhere  in  a  biographical  sketch  of  Mrs.  Alexander 
who  under  God  originated  and  fostered  what,  perhaps 
more  than  any  other  modem  movement,  has  stimulated 
a  new  and  deep  interest  in  the  reading  of  God's 
Word. 

During  the  summer  of  1908  much  of  the  detail  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Simultaneous  Campaigns  was  worked  out, 
and  preparations  were  made  for  the  great  work  of  grace 


118     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

that  was  to  be  given  its  most  marvellous  expression  in  the 
revival  that  swept  the  city  of  Boston. 

The  organization  was  so  complex,  and  the  detail  of  ar- 
rangement so  exacting,  that  Mr.  E.  G.  Chapman,  the 
brother  of  Dr.  Chapman,  a  man  of  the  highest  integrity 
and  of  unusual  executive  ability,  severed  all  other  business 
connections  and,  in  devotion  to  his  brother's  interests,  gave 
himself  entirely  to  the  detail  of  organization.  It  would  be 
impossible  in  this  brief  narrative  to  pass  a  just  estimate  on 
the  important  service  rendered  by  this  devoted  brother. 
His  courtesy,  his  tact,  his  fidelity,  and  his  untiring  labour 
won  the  affection  and  confidence  of  every  community 
where  meetings  were  held.  He  took  no  conspicuous  part 
in  the  public  services,  but  his  full  worth  was  appraised 
and  acknowledged  by  every  committee  with  which  he 
laboured. 

To  Mr.  Alexander  and  his  gifted  wife  no  tribute  paid  by 
the  writer  could  lift  them  to  any  higher  plane  of  distinction 
than  that  fully  recognized  by  all  that  have  come  to  know 
and  love  them.  It  is  only  fair  to  say,  what  Dr.  Chapman 
often  generously  and  emphatically  affirmed,  that  without 
the  most  affectionate  and  devoted  cooperation  of  Mr. 
Alexander  he  would  have  lacked  strength,  humanly  speak- 
ing, to  bear  the  burden  that  was  laid  upon  him. 

Who  that  ever  attended  any  of  those  great  meetings  can 
ever  forget  the  spiritual  impression  created  by  Mr.  Alex- 
ander, when,  in  his  genial,  persuasive,  and  yet  deeply  spirit- 
ual manner,  he  led  the  choir  and  the  congregation  to  those 
high  altitudes  of  praise  where  the  atmosphere  is  clear  and 
bracing,  and  where  the  heart  becomes  responsive  to  the 
Gospel  appeal?  It  was  like  the  trumpet  sounding  before 
the  armies  of  Jehoshaphat,  putting  to  rout  all  opposing 


THE  CHORAL  COEFFICIENT  119 

forces  and  leaving  the  banner  of  Jehovah  waving  over  an 
undisputed  field. 

Many  of  the  inspiring  hymns  that  have  moved  multitudes 
in  praise  and  devotion  were  born  of  those  great  meetings. 

Mr.  Alexander  was  quick  to  discern  the  distinctive  note 
of  instrumental  or  vocal  music,  and  he  was  thereby  enabled 
to  surround  himself  with  those  gifted  men  and  women  who, 
by  their  contribution  to  his  wonderful  song  services,  shall 
in  ineffaceable  memory  ever  be  associated  with  him. 

As  a  conductor  of  congregational  singing  it  is  doubtful  if 
Mr.  Alexander  has  had  a  peer  in  any  generation  of  song 
leaders. 

We  could  wish  no  greater  issue  to  his  devoted  life  than, 
in  the  coming  day  of  revelation,  to  behold  him  standing 
with  the  redeemed,  and  with  them  singing  the  ''new  song" 
that  shall  flood  with  melody  the  universe,  and  that  from  all 
created  things  shall  evoke  the  sounding  antiphon: 

Blessing,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  power,  be  unto  Him  that 
sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever. 

Such  is  to  be  the  wondrous  and  final  glory  song. 


CHAPTER  IX 

EVANGELISM 

The  One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  met  in  Calvary 
Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Thursday,  May  sixteenth, 
1901,  at  11  o'clock  A.  M. 

Such  is  the  introductory  statement  of  the  Minutes  of 
the  General  Assembly  published  that  year. 

Mr.  John  H.  Converse,  President  of  the  Baldwin  Loco- 
motive Works,  one  of  the  Captains  of  Industry,  was  a  Com- 
missioner to  that  Assembly  and  the  President  of  its  Board 
of  Trustees.  He  was  bom  in  a  manse,  the  son  of  a  Presbyter- 
ian minister,  and  had  risen  to  a  conspicuous  and  influential 
place  in  the  councils  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  had 
acquired  great  wealth  and  gave  lavishly  in  response  to  the 
many  appeals  made  to  him.  He  was  especially  interested 
in  all  forms  of  evangelistic  work  and,  with  an  earnest  desire 
on  his  part  to  quicken  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church,  he 
offered  a  resolution  to  the  Assembly  which  was  unanimously 
adopted: 

That  the  Moderator  be  requested  and  authorized  to  appoint  a 
Special  Committee  of  twelve,  to  consist  of  six  ministers  and  six  elders, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  stimulate  the  churches  in  evangelistic  work, 
to  consider  the  methods  of  such  work  and  of  its  conduct  in  relation  to 
the  churches,  and  to  report  with  recommendations  to  the  next  General 
Assembly. 

120 


EVANGELISM  121 

Acting  under  this  resolution  the  Moderator  of  the  As- 
sembly, the  Rev.  Henry  Collin  Minton,  D.D.,  appointed 
the  following  Committee: 


Mr.  John  H.  Converse,  Chairman  Rev.  George  P.  Wilson,  D.  D. 

Rev.  George  T.  Purves,  D.D.  Mr.  John  WiUis  Baer 

Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  D.D.  Mr.  James  I.  Buchanan 

Rev.  W.  J.  Chichester,  D.D.  Mr.  S.  P.  Harbison 

Rev.  S.  S.  Palmer,  D.D.  Mr.  E.  A.  K.  Hackett 

Rev.  John  Balcom  Shaw,  D.D.  Mr.  Charles  S.  Holt 


In  July  of  the  same  year  this  Committee  circularized  the 
ministers  and  ruling  elders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  ad- 
vising them  of  the  action  of  the  Assembly,  offering  sugges- 
tions, and  inviting  correspondence. 

Dr.  William  Henry  Roberts,  the  honoured  and  beloved 
Stated  Clerk  of  the  Assembly,  had  consented  to  act  as  the 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Committee.  But  he  had 
little  apprehension  of  the  mountainous  mass  of  correspon- 
dence that  would  be  rolled  in  upon  him. 

The  ministers  and  elders  were  ready  and  eager  to  adopt 
any  suggestions  that  gave  promise  of  deepening  the  spiritual 
life  of  the  people.  Letters  and  telegrams  poured  in  upon 
the  Stated  Clerk,  and  he  found  himself  without  strength 
to  bear  the  added  burden.  He  retained  the  office  of  Re- 
cording Secretary,  and,  as  we  have  seen.  Dr.  Chapman,  by 
the  unanimous  choice  of  the  Committee,  was  chosen  Cor- 
responding Secretary. 

The  original  plan  of  the  Committee,  as  outlined  by  Dr. 
Chapman  and  Mr.  Converse,  contemplated  an  organized 
series  of  evangelistic  services  in  the  great  home  mission 
sections,  and  in  rural  communities,  where  the  need  was  im- 
perative, and  where,  hitherto,  for  various  reasons,  the 


122     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

evangelistic  work  had  been  sporadic  and  ineffective.  In 
such  centres  it  had  been  difficult  to  secure  financial  support 
for  the  workers  who  had  found  that  the  free-will  offerings 
were  utterly  inadequate  to  sustain  themselves  and  their 
families.  The  Committee  therefore  resolved  to  support 
such  workers,  not  by  free-will  offerings  but  from  the  treas- 
ury of  the  Committee,  the  resoui'ces  of  which  were  practi- 
cally unlimited  because  of  the  munificent  generosity  of  Mr. 
Converse.  The  offerings,  never  too  generous,  were  still  fur- 
ther reduced  when  communities  learned  that  the  Commit- 
tee was  willing  to  meet  all  charges.  The  plan  did  not  work 
well  and,  after  a  few  months,  the  offerings  were  again  re- 
ceived for  the  benefit  of  the  workers,  supplementary  sums 
being  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  Committee. 

During  the  first  eighteen  months  of  its  service  the  Com- 
mittee, through  special  evangelists  and  helpers  under  Dr. 
Chapman's  personal  direction,  conducted  meetings  in  the 
mission  districts  of  Oklahoma,  Texas,  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
Iowa,  North  and  South  Dakota,  Colorado,  Arizona,  Wash- 
ington, Oregon,  Wisconsin,  and  a  number  of  the  Southern 
States.  The  staff  consisted  of  some  fifty-six  evangelists, 
singers,  and  other  helpers. 

Following  this  work  in  distinctively  mission  territory, 
calls  from  the  larger  cities  and  more  populated  sections  be- 
came so  insistent  that  new  and  more  extensive  plans  had 
to  be  formulated.  In  projecting  the  new  plan  Dr.  Chapman 
and  Mr.  Converse  were  fully  supported  by  the  Rev.  William 
Henry  Roberts,  D.D.,  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General 
Assembly.  The  Rev.  Parley  E.  Zartmann,  D.D.,  was  ap- 
pointed Assistant  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  The  Rev. 
John  P.  Calhoun,  D.D.,  was  appointed  the  Superintendent 
for  the  South  and  Southwest.    The  Rev.  J.  Beveridge  Lee, 


EVANGELISM  123 

D.D.,  became  Secretary  for  College  work.  The  Rev.  C.  T. 
Schaeffer,  Director  for  Young  People's  Evangelistic  Meet- 
ings, and  Mr.  E.  G.  Chapman,  the  brother  of  Dr.  Chapman, 
was  appointed  the  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the  new  method 
of  campaign  that  was  about  to  be  adopted. 

In  1903  the  personnel  of  the  Committee  was  increased  to 
sixteen  members.  Dr.  Chapman  with  their  advice  and 
consent  commissioned  ten  choice  men  as  Field  Secretaries 
or  advance  agents,  covering  every  section  of  the  United 
States.  He  arranged  for  conferences  of  the  more  influential 
ministers  and  elders  in  various  states,  personally  conducting 
these,  advising  and  Idndling  to  a  flame  their  latent  abilities, 
love,  and  power.  Many  Presbyteries  organized  Presbyter- 
ial  Committees  on  Evangelism  to  give  effect  to  the  sugges- 
tion and  schedules  which  Dr.  Chapman  issued  in  unlimited 
volume.  Scores  of  evangelistic  services  in  series  of  five  to 
twenty  were  held  all  over  the  country;  and  God  gave  to 
them  all  His  gracious  recognition.  Open-air  and  tent 
preaching  were  stimulated,  and  thousands  were  enlisted 
and  instructed  in  personal,  conversational,  inquiry  and  ap- 
peal. Twelve  hundred  pastors  were  enrolled  in  a  circle  of 
prayer  to  plead  for  a  great  spiritual  revival.  Decision 
days  became  the  rule  in  Sunday  Schools,  and  personal 
evangelism  was  the  objective  in  all  the  Young  People's 
Societies.  The  office  at  the  Fourth  Church  turned  out  an 
immense  volume  of  literature.  Ten  thousand  personal 
letters  were  written.  Four  hundred  thousand  pieces  of  liter- 
ature, of  which  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  were 
upon  request,  were  issued  through  the  mails.  Dr.  Chapman, 
in  addition  to  his  supervision  of  all  this,  continued  his  pas- 
toral labours,  and  wrote  his  octavo  volume  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pages,   entitled,    "Present   Day  Evangelism." 


124     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

More  than  five  thousand  copies  of  this  book  were  issued 
upon  appHcation. 

During  all  this  time  Dr.  Chapman  had  continued  his 
ministry  in  the  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church  of  New  York. 
The  drain  upon  his  physical  strength  was  greater  than  even 
his  iron  constitution  could  bear,  and  it  became  evident 
that  he  must  either  give  up  his  church  or  decline  to  go 
further  in  the  great  field  that  stretched  before  him  so  white 
for  the  harvest.  Had  he  consulted  his  own  personal  com- 
fort he  would  have  remained  with  his  church.  But  he 
could  not  resist  the  appeal  of  the  appalling  need  on  every 
side.  He  made  the  final  decision  that  ended  forever  his 
pastoral  relationship  and  sent  him  forth  upon  that  great 
mission  for  which  he  had  been  so  long  in  preparation. 

Immediately  seven  theological  seminaries  threw  open 
their  doors  and  to  the  students  there  was  brought  the  in- 
spiration of  the  new  movement.  Conferences  were  held 
in  fifty-two  of  the  largest  cities.  Fifty-one  evangelists  were 
employed.  Ten  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
services  are  recorded  in  four  hundred  and  seventy  cities. 
There  were  received  for  evangelists  a  thousand  requests 
that  had  to  be  denied  for  lack  of  men.  These  enforced 
declinations,  however,  were  accompanied  by  earnest  solicita- 
tions that  evangelistic  services  be  instituted  under  the  lead- 
ership of  the  local  pastors.  In  many  instances  this  was 
done,  and  it  confirmed  a  new  faith  and  abiding  confidence 
in  the  power  ever  latent  and  ready  upon  call  within  the 
churches  themselves. 

Twelve  hundred  and  eighty-five  churches  reported  having 
held  special  services  of  an  evangelistic  character.  Fifteen 
hundred  and  eighty  churches  reported  decisions  largely 
in  excess  of  previous  years.    The  influence  of  the  movement 


EVANGELISM  125 

swept  like  a  tide  beyond  the  area  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Other  denominations  felt  the  same  keen  need  of  a  spiritual 
awakening,  and  their  eyes  were  fixed  with  unconcealed 
interest  and  hope  upon  Dr.  Chapman  and  his  splendid  or- 
ganization. When  the  undoubted  results  became  manifest, 
congratulations  and  requests  for  counsel  from  practically 
all  of  the  evangelical  denominations  were  received  by  the 
Committee.  It  was  the  common  opinion  that  a  movement 
of  such  promise  should  not  be  confined  to  the  limits  of  any 
single  denomination,  but  should  be  made  a  dominating 
motive  in  the  life  of  the  Church  universal.  Dr.  Foss, 
Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Church,  wrote  to  Mr.  Converse: 

I  have  long  since  intended  to  express  to  you,  in  person  or  by  letter, 
my  sincere  and  cordial  appreciation  of  the  evangelistic  work  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  I  thank  God  for  the  abundant  evidence  of 
your  earnest,  concerted,  laborious,  and  persistent  effort  to  arrest  the 
attention  of  ministers  and  laymen  and  hold  it  to  a  careful,  prayerful 
consideration  of  the  great  business  of  getting  men  converted  to  God. 
God  bless  you  and  all  who  are  interested  in  working  with  you  in  this 
great  endeavour,  and  give  it  success.  I  shall  be  glad  to  cooperate 
wherever  it  may  seem  practicable,  and  will  ask  if  you  will  read  this 
brief  word  of  appreciation  and  sympathy  to  the  Committee  of  which 
you  are  Chairman  at  any  convenient  time. 

It  was  within  this  period,  1904-1909,  that  the  simultane- 
ous method  of  Evangelism  was  organized  and  developed. 
This  method  was  not  altogether  new  but  received  its  great- 
est emphasis  under  the  wise  direction  of  Dr.  Chapman  and 
his  devoted  brother  who  gave  up  all  other  business  that 
he  might  attend  to  the  detail  of  arrangements.  The  larger 
cities  were  divided  into  sections,  and  to  each  of  these  was 
sent  some  evangelist  of  note  with  a  song  leader,  the  meetings 
being  held  throughout  the  city  simultaneously,  and  all 
meetings  related  to  the  great  central  services  conducted  by 


126     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Dr.  Chapman  and  his  associates.  In  some  respects  these 
meetings,  though  most  carefully  arranged,  were  disappoint- 
ing, but  in  other  respects  the  success  was  phenomenal. 
But  Dr.  Chapman's  adaptability,  his  readiness  to  learn  by 
experience,  and  his  willingness  to  conform  to  conditions, 
all  of  which  were  so  characteristic  of  him,  enabled  him  to 
profit  by  all  mistakes,  and  he  so  controlled  the  method  that 
it  became  in  his  hands  not  only  a  programme  but  a  develop- 
ment. The  campaigns  were  organized  and  conducted  in 
the  largest  cities  of  the  country.  "No  chain  is  stronger 
than  its  weakest  link."  That  is,  of  course,  true,  and  it 
serves  to  illustrate  the  weak  spot  in  the  simultaneous 
method.  In  all  campaigns  Dr.  Chapman  was  the  central 
sun  around  which  the  other  evangelists  as  satellites  re- 
volved. The  ill  success  of  the  lesser  lights  was  charged 
against  the  general  movement.  No  one,  however,  that  had 
any  conception  of  the  manner  in  which  great  centres  of 
population  were  moved  could  for  a  moment  question  the 
wisdom  of  the  method.  These  movements,  when  they  were 
thoroughly  organized,  as  they  always  were,  under  the  effi- 
cient and  untiring  labours  of  Mr.  E.  G.  Chapman,  brought 
forth  results  that  fully  justified  the  method. 

The  campaigns  held  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States 
exhibit  so  great  a  similarity  that  any  account  of  one  is 
sufficient  to  indicate  the  character  of  them  all. 

It  is  perhaps  safe  to  say  that  this  method,  as  conducted 
by  Dr.  Chapman,  had  its  most  marvellous  demonstration 
in  the  extraordinary  series  of  meetings  that  were  held  in 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  just  prior  to  Dr.  Chapman's  de- 
parture for  Australia. 

Boston  is  the  most  difficult,  as  it  is  the  most  promising, 
place  for  the  development  of  a  religious  movement.    It  is 


EVANGELISM  127 

the  vortex  into  which  there  flows  every  hour  between  Na- 
hant  and  Hull  every  conceivable  belief.  Strike  whatever 
religious  note  you  please  and  Boston  will  answer  with  a 
responsive  chord.  All  forms  of  weird  belief,  like  a  cold  and 
dismal  fog  from  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  sweep  up  and 
down  her  broad  avenues  and  through  her  churches  and  halls. 
Such  is  the  never-ending  and  all-prevailing  atmosphere  of 
Boston.  The  need  for  a  true  spiritual  awakening  was 
deeply  felt,  and  out  of  the  soul  distress  there  came  the  cry 
to  Dr.  Chapman  for  help.  The  call  had  been  given  voice 
by  Dr.  A.  Z.  Conrad,  pastor  of  the  Park  Street  Church.  To 
his  appeal  Dr.  Chapman  sent  a  telegram — "Will  confer  with 
ministers  of  Boston,  Thursday.  Meet  me  Parker  House, 
four  p.  M." 

Three  hundred  clergymen  welcomed  him.  Dr.  Conrad 
was  made  Chairman  of  an  Executive  Committee  of  Seven- 
teen. A  map  of  the  greater  city  and  of  adjacent  territory 
was  spread  upon  the  table,  and  the  metropolitan  circuit, 
with  its  appanages,  was  red-lined  into  twenty-seven  groups, 
and  chairmen  were  appointed  segregating  the  churches  to 
these  respective  centres.  Two  weeks  later  Dr.  Chapman 
again  visited  Boston  and  found  the  organization,  under 
Dr.  Conrad's  inspiration  and  faithful  guidance,  splendidly 
perfected,  and  the  spirit  of  expectation  aglow  and  on  the 
increase  throughout  the  whole  field. 

MeantiAie  the  evangelistic  forces  were  being^ery  care- 
fully as  well  as  prayerfully  enlisted.  Twenty-seven  evan- 
gelists, or  pastors  with  evangelistic  gifts,  one  each  for  the 
twenty-seven  groups  of  churches,  and  twenty-seven  direc- 
tors of  music  were  secured. 

Another  mighty  force  was  also  gathering,  a  thousand 
personal  workers,  called  by  the  executive  under  guidance 


128     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  the  quiet  of  their  own  pews,  trained 
through  their  own  meditation  and  according  to  their  per- 
sonal talent,  these  were  prepared  for  the  hand-to-hand  en- 
counter, the  heart-to-heart  contact,  for  the  bearing  of  the 
Gospel  of  divine  love  and  saving  potency  to  every  awakened 
soul. 

Such,  in  brief,  was  and  is  the  method  of  organization  in 
the  simultaneous  campaign. 

In  Boston,  at  the  preliminary  Sunday  services,  the 
ministers  all  preached  in  their  own  pulpits;  but  they  never 
preached  perhaps  in  precisely  the  same  manner.  Civic, 
social,  and  philosophic  allusions — or  illusions — were  ban- 
ished and  the  one  topic  was  Jesus,  crucified,  risen,  practical, 
indispensable.  The  same  beautiful,  sweet,  and  winsome 
story  was  told  in  the  Sunday  School,  culminating  on  Decis- 
ion Day;  and  the  children  gave  their  hearts  to  God.  Under 
the  spell  of  such  influences  the  thousand  personal  workers 
arose  to  their  great  harvesting. 

Another  force — never  hoped  for  by  the  most  hopeful — 
the  daily  newspapers,  ever  jealous  of  what  they  conceive 
to  be  very  valuable  space,  gave  to  the  movement  the  most 
extraordinary  attention,  not  in  columns  but  whole  pages, 
editorials  and  reportorial  narratives.  The  press  caters  to 
the  public  and  the  public  demands  the  "news.''  During 
those  days  the  one  topic  that  seemed  to  arrest  the  attention 
and  absorb  the  thought  of  Boston  was  the  mighty  revival 
that  like  a  gale  from  heaven  was  sweeping  over  the  city.  It 
was  as  cheering  as  it  was  unusual  to  come  out  into  the 
streets  from  a  densely  packed  religious  service  and  to  hear  on 
all  sides  the  strident  cry  of  the  newsboys — ' '  Extra !  Extra ! 
Latest  news  of  the  revival!''  So  interested  became  the 
people  in  this  one  vital  topic  that  repeated  instances  were 


EVANGELISM  129 

reported  of  men,  living  in  the  suburbs  and  returning  to  their 
homes  on  the  trains,  becoming  so  absorbed  in  the  newspaper 
accounts  that  they  were  carried  far  beyond  their  destination. 
Boston  no  doubt  has  responded  to  every  emotion  that  may 
be  evoked  by  the  human  voice.  But  in  those  days  a  new 
emotion  was  throbbing  through  the  souls  of  men,  a  new 
voice  was  speaking,  it  was  the  voice  of  God. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  the  twenty-sixth  of  January,  1909, 
the  campaign  started  with  services  in  the  twenty-seven 
centres,  over  an  area  thirty  miles  in  diameter.  On  that 
night  Tremont  Temple  was  unlighted  and  the  doors  were 
closed.  It  was  the  same  on  the  twenty-seventh  and  twenty- 
eighth;  but,  pulsating  the  air,  there  was  a  whisper  ever 
growing  louder  of  something  unusual  impending. 

Then,  on  the  twenty-ninth,  came  the  evangelists. 
Through  the  three  days  preceding  the  twenty-seven  cen- 
tres had  become  well  established,  and  fifty-four  earnest 
men,  much  after  the  Chapman  style,  had  proclaimed  the 
Gospel  in  various  centres  in  which  from  five  to  twelve 
churches  were  grouped. 

Meantime,  Tremont  Temple  is  lighted  and  the  doors  are 
open.  An  hour  before  the  appointed  time  the  spacious 
auditorium  is  filled  from  platform  to  dome.  And  still  the 
throng  surges  on,  filling  aisles,  stairways,  and  corridors 
and  stretching  out  across  the  sidewalks  until  trolley  traffic 
on  Tremont  Street  is  no  longer  possible.  At  7:30 — instead 
of  7:45  as  announced — Dr.  Conrad  introduces  ''Mr. 
Charles  M.  Alexander  of  Tennessee,  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain,  and  the  rest  of  the  World."  That  is  the  first 
happy  stroke.  Mr.  Alexander  laughs  broadly  and  even 
aloud.  That  is  the  second.  Then  he  shouts:  "Have  you 
all  got  books?    Every  man  and  woman,  every  silk  hat  and 


130     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN—A  BIOGRAPHY 

busted  shoe,  has  got  to  sing  to-night!"  The  great  chorus 
sings  and  the  music  is  Hke  "the  sound  of  many  waters." 

"My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee,  Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary, 
Saviour  Divine"  are  the  words  that  ring  through  the  build- 
ing, the  congregation  standing  as  they  sing  this  noble  hymn 
at  the  close  of  the  unique  praise  service. 

Dr.  Chapman,  without  introduction,  comes  forward. 
Tall,  strong,  alert  and  yet  quiet,  a  Bible  in  his  hand,  he 
begins  to  speak,  but  with  no  text.  He  often  does  this,  but 
he  will  use  a  dozen  before  he  is  through.  That  weird  voice 
of  his,  melodious,  gentle,  yet  penetrating  every  soffit  in  the 
room  and  ringing  round  and  round  the  dome,  is  as  composed 
and  as  positive  and  assuring  as  are  his  gestures.  These 
are  always  inviting,  persuasive,  unimpassioned,  and  yet 
convincing. 

The  pointing  of  that  index  finger,  though  inarticulate, 
speaks  to  the  soul.  The  argument  appeals  to  your  under- 
standing. The  illustration  stirs  tender  memories,  and  the 
tears  flow.  His  challenge  leaves  no  path  of  escape,  you 
must  respond,  and  the  agonized  cry  of  that  sorely  beset  old 
Roman — "What  shall  I  do  with  Jesus,  which  is  called 
Christ?" — arises  up  from  the  depths  of  your  being.  It  is  a 
solemn  moment.  The  invitation  is  given.  Scores  respond. 
The  spiritual  result  is  registered  in  heaven. 

While  the  campaign  is  on  there  is  a  prayer  service — 
nothing  but  prayer — each  morning  at  ten  o'clock.  A 
conference  with  ministers  and  workers  and  reports  from  the 
twenty-seven  centres  follows  at  eleven.  The  regular  daily 
noon  full  service  is  at  twelve.  The  "Quiet  Hour"  service, 
charming,  winsome,  deepening,  determining,  is  held  at 
four;  and  then  the  evening  throng. 

Whoever  has  addressed  an  audience,  especially  upon  a 


EVANGELISM  131 

theme  wherein  the  heart  is  deeply  engaged,  knows  some- 
thing of  the  stress  implied.  Five  times  daily  for  three 
weeks  Dr.  Chapman  was  under  that  pressure.  Do  you 
wonder  that  the  world  wonders  at  him? 

Besides  the  foregoing  many  special  services  were  held. 
One  in  the  Bromfield  Street  Church  for  ministers  only. 
Who  can  forget  the  solemn  rededication  of  life  to  the 
service  of  saving  the  lost? 

One  service  was  at  the  theatre  at  Harvard  University  for 
the  students  of  that  cold  and  cloud-bound  centre  of  philoso- 
phy. 

Boston  University  suspended  recitations  for  a  week,  and 
Newton  Theological  Seminary  for  several  days,  that 
students  might  experience  the  uplift  and  study  the  secret 
of  evangelistic  work. 

The  interest  continued  without  abatement  to  the  very 
end.  Mechanics'  Hall,  where  the  final  meetings  were  held, 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  eight  thousand,  was  utterly  in- 
adequate to  accommodate  the  crowd  that  assembled  long 
before  the  doors  were  open.  A  special  detachment  of  police 
held  back  other  throngs  when  even  standing  room  was  no 
longer  available. 

In  a  statement  given  out  at  the  time  it  was  estimated  that 
the  total  number  in  attendance  was  between  eleven  and 
twelve  thousand. 

Probably  four  thousand  were  unable  to  get  into  the  hall.  The  doors 
were  opened  at  six  twenty-five  and  in  ten  minutes  the  hall  was  filled. 
Belated  ticket-holders  were  refused  admission  by  the  police,  of  whom 
there  were  a  sergeant  and  twenty-one  patrolmen  about  the  building. 

Many  persons  stood  throughout  the  service  in  the  back  of  the  wide 
passages  off  the  floor  and  the  galleries,  where  they  could  not  see  the 
speakers  and  singers,  but  were  able  to  hear  the  songs  and  the  sermon. 
Scores  of  women  sat  upon  the  floor  and  listened.      One  young  girl 


132     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

climbed  the  elevator  netting  and  peered  over  the  heads  of  the  people 
in  the  top  gallery. 

At  seven  o'clock  the  ushers,  through  megaphones,  called  out  of 
the  windows  to  the  thousands  in  the  street  that  there  was  no  chance 
to  get  into  the  hall,  and  directed  them  to  neighbouring  churches. 
Very  few  of  the  waiting  crowd  were  willing  to  leave,  however,  and 
about  one  thousand  of  them  had  the  reward  of  their  patience,  when, 
after  the  sermon,  the  doors  were  opened  for  the  exit  of  those  who 
could  not  stay  for  the  after-meeting.  Their  places  were  quickly 
filled. 

The  service  was  a  farewell  and  a  revival  meeting  combined.  Most 
of  the  farewells  were  said  at  the  opening  of  the  service  and  the  two 
hours  that  followed  were  devoted  to  evangelistic  appeals  through  song 
and  sermon. 

At  the  close  of  the  service  Dr.  Chapman  offered  the 
following  prayer: 

Blessed  God,  we  have  wrought  the  best  we  knew  how.  Whatever 
it  might  have  cost,  even  if  it  had  been  blood  and  life,  it  would  have 
been  worth  it  all  to  be  used  of  Thee.  As  we  turn  our  faces  elsewhere 
do  thou  bless  Springfield.  Keep  us  under  the  shadow  of  Thy  wings 
as  we  go  across  the  seas.  May  our  message  always  be  true  to  Him  and 
to  Thee.    To  Thy  name  be  the  praise.    Amen. 

After  the  prayer  Dr.  Chapman  retired  and  Mr.  Alexander 
led  the  choir  and  congregation  in  the  singing  of  "God  Be 
with  You  Till  We  Meet  Again.''  This  was  followed  by  the 
great  chorus — ''My  anchor  holds."  So  concluded  this 
extraordinary  series  of  meetings. 

In  summing  up  results  the  Chairman,  Dr.  Conrad,  dwells 
at  much  length  upon  the  gain  to  the  general  moral  health 
of  the  city;  he  sets,  as  the  "pivot-text"  for  the  campaign, 
the  words  of  Christ:  "And  I,  if  I  be  Hfted  up,  will  draw 
all  men  imto  me";  he  dwells  with  great  joy  upon  the 
unanimity  of  belief  in  the  cardinal  doctrine:  "Ye  must  be 
bom  again";  and  he  closes  with  words  of  solemn  conviction: 
"  The  power  was  a  Divine  Power." 


EVANGELISM  133 

In  appreciation  of  Dr.  Chapman  and  his  immediate 
associates  Dr.  Conrad  says: 

Nothing  is  more  illusive  than  personality.  You  cannot  define  it. 
You  cannot  describe  it.  You  cannot  illustrate  it.  You  can  only  be 
conscious  of  it.  The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  is  endowed  with 
rare  personal  qualities.  His  appearance  is  impressive.  His  facial 
expression  striking  and  telling.  His  manner  is  courteous,  dignified, 
and  commanding.  He  is  sympathetic,  and  his  vibrant  sympathies 
touch  the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  His  voice  is  musical,  appealing, 
persuasive,  enjoyable.  He  shows  marvellous  tact  in  dealing  with 
individuals  and  an  almost  phenomenal  power  of  adaptation.  Sim- 
plicity, directness,  earnestness,  assurance,  and  fervency  characterize 
all  Doctor  Chapman's  utterances.  His  preaching  is  thoroughly  con- 
structive. It  is  commanding,  powerful.  He  wastes  no  time  in 
attacking  "isms",  but  graphically  portrays  sin  and  its  consequences, 
and  with  passionate  devotion  to  divine  ideals  reveals  the  glory  of  the 
life  in  Christ.  He  holds  his  audiences  spell-bound.  He  is  always 
interesting.  You  never  have  a  moment  of  anxiety  for  fear  he  may  say 
something  for  which  you  would  wish  to  apologize.  There  is  such  a 
wholesomeness  about  the  man  and  his  message  that  people  are  irre- 
sistibly bound  to  both.  No  evangelist  ever  so  fully  won  the  cultivated 
classes.  He  is  one  of  God's  noblemen.  To  know  him  is  to  trust  and 
love  him. 

Mr.  Charles  M.  Alexander,  with  his  beaming  countenance,  which 
seems  to  reflect  the  very  love  of  his  Lord,  wins  the  affection  of  the 
people  he  meets  instantly.  His  ardent  temperament,  splendid 
enthusiasm,  whole-souled  devotion,  unquestioned  consecration,  give 
him  a  tremendous  power  over  the  audiences  before  whom  he  stands  as 
music  director  and  Gospel  singer.  He  is  nothing  less  than  a  genius  in 
his  abilities  as  a  director.  He  will  give  power  and  pathos  to  the  most 
ordinary  musical  composition.  He  enlists  the  sympathy,  interest,  and 
cooperation  of  the  largest  audiences  and  secures  almost  miraculous 
results  in  presenting  the  Gospel  message  in  song.  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  conceive  of  two  men  more  thoroughly  supplemental  to  each 
other  than  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander.  Each  one  needs  the 
other  for  the  largest  effectiveness  in  his  work. 

Mr.  Harkness,  who  has  for  five  years  been  with  Mr.  Alexander 
as  his  accompanist,  has  consecrated  his  unusual  talents  to  Christ  and 
is  as  unusual  and  noteworthy  as  an  accompanist  as  Mr.  Alexander  is  in 
the  capacity  of  director. 


134     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Mr.  Naftzger  captured  all  hearts  by  his  simple,  graceful  manner,  his 
wonderfully  musical  voice,  as  he  sang  the  "Sparrow  Song,"  "Memo- 
ries of  Mother,"  and  many  other  selections.  As  the  special  soloist  for 
Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander,  Mr.  Naftzger  greatly  strength- 
ens the  services. 

Mrs.  Goodson,  Doctor  Chapman's  daughter,  again  and  again  lifted 
the  great  audiences  to  the  very  highest  point  of  spiritual  exaltation 
by  her  singing.  Her  sweetness  of  tone  and  distinctness  of  enunciation 
and  the  deep  spiritual  purpose  manifest  in  all  she  did,  combined  to 
make  her  a  great  favourite.  Her  consecrated  talent  was  used  of  God 
to  bring  many  to  a  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Resolutions  dated  Monday,  February  twenty-second, 
1909,  and  adopted  by  the  cooperating  pastors  and  com- 
mittees were  as  follows: 

The  Chapman-Alexander  Evangelistic  Campaign  having  con- 
cluded, we  who  have  cooperated  in  the  movement  desire  to  place  on 
record  our  sincere  convictions  regarding  its  results. 

We  rejoice  and  thank  God  for  the  manifest  presence  and  power 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  guiding  and  ruling  in  all  of  our  preparations  and 
deliberations,  and  especially  for  His  evident  direction  of  the  messages 
from  the  lips  of  the  evangelists,  and  the  convicting  and  converting 
grace  so  marvellously  exhibited. 

Boston  has  been  thoroughly  awakened.  Thousands  have  been 
brought  to  God.  The  whole  Christian  church  has  been  reinvigo- 
rated.  What  has  been  wrought  in  the  hearts  and  homes  cannot  be 
tabulated  or  registered  and  will  never  be  known  until  the  Books  of 
Heaven  are  opened. 

We  desire  gratefully  to  acknowledge  the  consistent,  earnest,  faith- 
ful work  of  all  of  the  evangelists  who  have  laboured  among  us. 

To  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  and  Mr.  Charles  M.  Alexander,  who 
have  led  the  movement,  we  extend  our  heartiest  "God  bless  you." 
We  assure  them  of  our  heartfelt  and  unqualified  approval  of  the 
noble,  Christ-like  way  in  which  they  have  conducted  this  series  of 
meetings.  Both  the  manner  and  the  matter  of  the  message  has  won 
all  hearts.  Christian  courtesy,  gracious  dignity,  and  whole-souled 
earnestness  have  marked  all  they  have  done  in  our  city. 

We  now  assure  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  of  our  abiding 
interest  in  the  "Around  the  World  Evangelistic  Tour,"  which  they  are 
about  to  undertake.    We  will  follow  them  in  our  prayers  and  our 


EVANGELISM  135 

sympathy.  We  commend  them  with  our  unreserved  endorsement  of 
their  purposes,  plans,  and  message  to  the  Christian  people  of  the  world. 

To  Mr.  E.  G.  Chapman  we  desire  to  convey  our  recognition  and 
appreciation  of  his  exceptional  business  ability  and  the  efficient 
manner  in  which  he  has  managed  the  business  affairs  of  this  great 
Simultaneous  Campaign.  To  his  patient  and  unwearying  labours  we 
are  indebted  for  the  quiet,  harmonious,  and  effective  working  of  the 
machinery  indispensable  to  the  success  of  this  great  enterprise. 

To  Mr.  John  Converse,  of  Philadelphia,  and  to  the  Evangelistic 
Committee  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States,  we  send 
our  greetings  and  congratulations,  together  with  our  appreciation  for 
what  they  have  done  to  make  possible  the  great  blessings  we  have 
experienced  by  exceptional  gifts  to  evangelistic  work. 

We  thus  set  our  seal  of  approbation,  commendation,  and  apprecia- 
tion of  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  and  rejoice  in  their  zeal 
and  wisdom  in  God's  work. 

We  furthermore  set  our  seal  of  endorsement  heartily  and  enthusias- 
tically on  the  Simultaneous  Campaign  method  of  evangelizing  our 
cities. 

May  God  in  His  grace  and  mercy  continue  with  these  His  servants, 
wherever  they  go,  and  may  He  richly  bless  us  in  our  efforts  to  continue 
the  work  here  begun. 


CHAPTER  X 

ON  THE  WAY  TO  AUSTRALIA 

By  the  press,  and  through  private  correspondence,  the 
gracious  revival  that  spread  over  Boston  was  made  known 
in  all  parts  of  the  glohe. 

Commendatory  and  congratulatory  letters  were  received 
from  Cairo,  from  Paris,  from  Smyrna,  from  Constantinople; 
from  various  points  in  England,  and  from  every  section  of 
the  United  States. 

Earnest  and  appealing  calls  for  similar  meetings  came 
from  many  American  cities,  but  these  all  had  to  be  declined, 
because  God  had  ordained  that  the  next  Simultaneous 
Campaign  should  blaze  out  under  the  Constellation  of  the 
Southern  Cross. 

From  Boston  the  evangelistic  party  proceeded  to  Spring- 
field, Massachusetts,  and  there  rehearsed,  after  the  manner 
of  Paul  and  Barnabas  at  Antioch,  "All  that  God  had  done.'' 
Preparations  were  then  made  for  the  impending  journey  to 
Australia. 

The  party  consisted  of  Dr.  Chapman;  Agnes,  his 
daughter;  Alexander  Hamilton,  his  youngest  son;  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  C.  M.  Alexander;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ralph  C.  Norton; 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  WilHam  Asher;  Mr.  G.  T.  B.  Davis  and 
mother;  Mr.  Robert  Harkness;  Mr.  Frank  Dickson;  Mr. 
Earnest  Naftzger;  Miss  Bertha  Breckenridge,  secretary  to 
Dr.  Chapman;  Mr.  Edwin  H.  Bookmyer,  secretary  to  Mr. 
Alexander;  and  the  writer. 

136 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  AUSTRALIA  137 

We  came  together  at  Minneapolis,  and,  after  again 
rehearsing  the  blessings  that  had  come  to  Boston,  left  for 
Winnipeg,  arriving  there  on  the  twentieth  of  March,  1909. 
Here  we  found  Dr.  Grenfell,  the  illustrious  apostle  to 
Labrador,  widely  advertised  for  services  to  be  held  on 
Saturday  and  Sunday,  the  two  days  scheduled  for  the 
party  to  remain  in  that  city.  There  had  been  arranged  for 
Dr.  Chapman  a  reception  to  which  Dr.  Grenfell  was  invited 
and  at  which  he  made  an  address.  He  also  participated 
in  other  services  planned  for  the  Chapman-Alexander 
party. 

We  left  Winnipeg  by  night  express  and  arrived  the  next 
morning  at  Regina,  the  capital  of  Saskatchewan,  and  the 
shipping  and  distributing  centre  for  ten  thousand  square 
miles  of  splendid  farms.  Here  a  service  was  held  in  the  city 
square  where  an  impromptu  throng,  estimated  at  from  six  to 
eight  hundred,  had  assembled  under  protection  of  a  squad 
of  the  far-famed  Royal  Northwest  Mounted  Police.  That 
splendid  body  has  its  Western  headquarters  at  Regina  and 
is  made  up  largely  of  gentlemen  of  education  and  of  refined 
family  antecedents,  even  to  a  few  scions  of  the  English 
nobility,  seeking  adventure,  but  dispensing  such  diplomatic 
justice  and  control  over  the  wild  territory  where  they 
range  as  to  commend  the  confidence  and  willing  obedience 
of  white  and  red  men  alike.  One  of  these  rangers  was 
known  to  his  companions  as  "Willie  Wilson."  He  was  the 
second  son  of  the  Earl  of  Strathallyn  and  esteemed  it  a 
mark  of  distinction  to  have  been  chosen  to  introduce  the 
party. 

From  Regina  the  train  soon  began  the  long  climb  toward 
the  Great  Divide.  On  such  a  journey  it  was  impossible  for 
a  man  of  Dr.  Chapman's  temperament  to  ignore  the  great 


138     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

voices  that,  with  such  appealing  power,  speak  from  the 
mountains.  Mile  after  mile,  impressions  were  made  upon 
his  mind.  A  close  observer  of  nature,  he  lost  no  op- 
portunity to  enrich  the  great  fund  of  illustrations  that  he 
used  with  such  precise  and  appealing  application. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  March  the  party  arrived  at 
the  iine  station  in  Vancouver.  Here  three  services  had 
been  arranged,  with  crowds  so  great  that  overflow  meetings 
were  held,  all  of  which  Dr.  Chapman  addressed,  speaking 
one  day  five  times  in  succession. 

On  Friday,  the  twenty-sixth  of  March,  we  embarked  on 
the  steamship  Makura  of  the  Canadian-Australian  Royal 
Mail  Line,  which,  slipping  her  cables,  ran  out  by  the 
Burrard  Inlet,  veered  southerly  into  the  Strait  of  Georgia, 
and  then  made  a  sharp  turn  to  the  west  around  Satuma 
Island  and  thence  on  a  direct  course  to  Victoria,  the  last 
stop  before  sailing  out  into  the  Pacific.  As  the  steamer 
piade  her  way  out  into  the  open  sea  Dr.  Chapman,  by 
invitation  of  the  commanding  officer,  stood  upon  the 
bridge  and  looked  upon  the  ocean  rolling  its  mighty  swell 
to  the  great  arch  of  its  horizon,  "the  emblem  of 
xmwearied,  unconquerable  power,  the  wild,  various, 
fantastic,  tameless  unity  of  the  sea."  Behind  him  lay 
the  receding  shores  of  America;  before  him,  more  than 
seven  thousand  miles  away,  lay  that  unknown  continent 
whither  he  was  bound  to  proclaim  to  its  people  the  Gospel 
of  Christ. 

Mr.  Alexander  had  before  sailed  over  those  waters,  and 
from  that  experience  he  knew  what,  either  for  utility  or 
entertainment,  might  be  desirable  to  take  on  such  a  voyage. 
Among  the  variegated  purchases  suggested  by  his  fertile 
ingenuity  there  was  a  complete  printing  outfit  by  means  of 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  AUSTRALIA  139 

which  he  expected  to  issue  during  the  voyage  a  daily  paper 
into  which,  if  there  could  appear  no  great  headlines  from  the 
outside  world,  there  might  be  recorded  such  events  as 
might  be  interesting  if  not  momentous  to  us  in  that  floating 
world  we  were  to  call  our  own  for  the  next  three  weeks.  It 
is  needless  to  say,  for  reasons  easily  conjectured,  that  the 
issue  of  this  paper  was  somewhat  irregular.  However, 
when  an  issue  did  appear,  it  contained  a  contribution  from 
Dr.  Chapman,  a  copy  of  a  gospel  hymn,  and  various  other 
contributions  by  members  of  the  Chapman-Alexander 
party  or  such  other  passengers  on  the  Makura  as  had  the 
literary  ability  to  get  their  productions  past  the  editor. 
One  of  the  really  fine  contributions  to  the  first  issue 
was  a  poem  written  by  Fanny  J.  Crosby,  never  be- 
fore having  appeared  in  print,  and  "Affectionately  in- 
scribed to  the  Chapman-Alexander  Mission  'Round  the 
World." 


0,  heralds  of  the  Cross  of  Christ, 

Ye  chosen  of  the  Lord, 
Take  up  anew  your  glorious  work: 

Gird  on  the  Spirit's  sword; 
And  trusting  in  its  mighty  power. 

With  banners  wide  unfurled, 
Go  forth  and,  in  His  name,  fulfill 

Your  mission  'round  the  world. 


There  was  a  day,  a  precious  day. 

When  we  together  met 
Within  a  consecrated  home 

Our  hearts  will  ne'er  forget: 
And  while  we  knelt  with  quivering  lips. 

And  tears  our  cheeks  impearled, 
We  prayed,  in  faith,  our  Lord  to  bless 

Your  mission  'round  the  world. 


140     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

And  0,  how  oft,  though  sundered  far, 

Our  kindred  souls  will  blend 
Beneath  the  Christian  mercy-seat. 

Where  friend  communes  with  friend: 
Our  faith  will  see  the  lifted  cross, 

Its  banners  still  unfurled, 
And  hail  with  shouts  of  Victory, 

Your  mission  'round  the  world. 

Vancouver's  Isle,  Australia's  clime, 

Tasmania's  region  fair. 
Will  greet  your  coming  and  rejoice 

To  bid  you  welcome  there; 
And  when  beneath  your  native  skies 

Once  more  your  sails  are  furled. 
May  new-born  souls,  by  millions,  crown 

Your  mission  'round  the  world. 

Among  the  passengers  was  Mr.  John  W.  Bengough,  the 
renowned  cartoonist,  who  contributed: 

Our  Voyage 

When  first  this  circl'd  world  of  blue 
Enthralled  the  sight  of  venturous  man 

And  his  rude  voyagings  began 

From  Isle  to  Isle,  all  wond'rous  new. 

Did  some  lone  sailor  poet  see. 

In  vision  of  the  tropic  night, 
A  fairy  castle,  all  alight, 

That  floated  on  with  majesty. 

Midst  sounds  of  laughter  and  good-cheer, 

As  of  bhthe  children  at  their  play; 
And  strains  of  music  borne  away 

Upon  the  slumbrous  atmosphere? 

Then  'twas  the  far  prophetic  gleam 

Of  truth;  our  own  Makura,  brave, 
Spurning  the  white-embroidered  wave. 

Was  the  fair  palace  of  his  dream. 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  AUSTRALIA  141 

A  file  of  these  newspapers,  however  unsystematic  may- 
have  been  their  issue,  has  been  carefully  preserved  by 
every  member  of  the  party,  and  the  occasional  reading 
recalls  the  various  events  that  enlivened  the  voyage,  all  of 
which,  though  awakening  many  happy  memories  of  the 
passengers,  would  be  of  little  interest  to  the  readers  of  this 
volume. 

From  Victoria  to  Honolulu,  two  thousand  four  hundred 
and  thirty-five  miles,  we  saw  no  other  sailing  craft  and 
enjoyed  a  comparatively  calm  sea.  In  the  early  morning  of 
April  second,  as  the  light  mist  rose  from  off  the  long  ocean 
swell,  we  discovered  land,  the  first  visible  for  the  six  days. 
It  lay  off  our  port  bow,  a  long,  low  shore,  and  proved  to  be 
the  melancholy  region  of  Molokai.  An  hour  later,  almost 
straight  ahead,  we  saw  the  rugged  front  of  Oahu.  At  two 
o'clock  on  that  afternoon  the  Makura  warped  into  her 
dock  at  Honolulu.  Scheduled  to  sail  again  at  eleven 
o'clock  that  evening,  we  had  but  nine  hours  to  make  a  hasty 
exploration  of  this  garden  spot  of  the  world.  Unfortu- 
nately a  tropical  rain  was  pouring  down  in  torrents,  but  this 
did  not  dampen  the  enthusiasm  of  a  local  committee 
appointed  to  receive  us  at  the  wharf,  and  from  whom  we 
received  the  most  cordial  welcome.  A  public  reception 
was  given  to  Dr.  Chapman  in  the  Government  Building 
which  had  once  been  used  as  a  royal  palace.  After  the 
reception  we  were  given  a  six-mile  ride  over  the  fine  Pali 
road  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  what  remains  of  past  tempestuous, 
volcanic  days.  The  local  committee  had  arranged  for  a 
meeting  to  be  held  in  the  Central  Union  Church  where  Dr. 
Chapman  was  expected  to  make  an  address.  The  United 
States  Commissioner,  in  full  white-grass  suit  presided,  and 
the  British  Consul — with  a  ribbon  diagonally  across  his 


142     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

shirt  front,  for  he  was  of  noble  ancestry — sat  with  him  in  the 
pulpit.  The  congregation  was  made  up  of  Australians, 
British,  Japanese,  Portuguese,  and  native  Hawaiians,  to- 
gether with  what  seemed  to  be  representatives  of  all  other 
nationalities. 

Mr.  Alexander  was  introduced,  and  in  his  genial  and 
persuasive  manner  soon  had  the  heterogeneous  congrega- 
tion singing  ''The  Glory  Song,"  the  beginning  of  a  song 
service  that  closed  with  the  beautiful  hymn,  "In  Thy 
Cleft,  0  Rock  of  Ages,  Hide  Thou  Me." 

Dr.  Chapman  selected  for  his  text  Ezekiel  37:9 — "Come 
from  the  four  winds,  0  breath,  and  breathe  upon  these 
slain,  that  they  may  live."  The  meeting  was  marked  by  an 
unusual  depth  of  feeling.  The  appeal  was  tender,  the 
response  immediate.  Dr.  Chapman  left  them  with  the 
assurance  that  if  God  so  willed  he  would  on  some  future  day 
return  for  a  series  of  meetings. 

We  sailed  at  eleven  o'clock  that  night  and  the  next 
morning  were  beyond  sight  of  land  with  the  steamer 
headed  for  the  Fiji  Islands. 

On  Saturday  morning,  the  tenth  of  April,  we  crossed  the 
one  hundred  and  eightieth  meridian  and  had  the  singular 
sensation  of  advancing  the  calendar  one  whole  day. 

In  coming  into  port  at  Suva  we  passed  the  great  coral 
reef,  twenty  miles  in  length  and  one  quarter  of  a  mile  across^ 
which  incloses  the  harbour;  and  which,  more  delicately 
wrought  than  the  choicest  Chinese  carved  ivory,  has  stood 
for  unnumbered  years  hurling  back  the  ocean  swells  that  in 
incessant  thunder  roll  and  break  and  fall  upon  it.  Here, 
for  the  first  time,  we  saw  coral  in  the  making.  The  pale, 
cold  fragments  in  our  museums,  varied  and  exquisite  as 
they  are,  are  yet  but  skeletons  of  an  abounding  life  now 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  AUSTRALIA  143 

extinct.  Here  we  saw  the  coral  polyp  busy  in  the  building; 
not  now  the  bleached  skeleton,  but  brilliantly  particoloured 
all  along  the  ocean  wall  in  purple,  crimson,  scarlet,  and  gold. 

Attention  is  called  to  this,  apart  from  any  popular 
interest,  because  it  furnished  to  Dr.  Chapman  a  fine 
illustration  for  his  sermon  that  evening. 

The  steamer  was  much  later  than  expected,  and  the 
committee  had  been  waiting  for  hours  to  hold  a  meeting 
which  had  been  arranged  to  take  place  immediately  after 
arrival.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  should  have  arrived  early 
in  the  morning,  and  the  meeting  had  been  widely  advertised 
through  the  town  by  means  of  a  native  ''sandwich  man," 
who  had  hung  around  his  neck  a  duplex  board  on  which 
was  this  inscription: 

TOWN  HALL 

CHAPMAN-ALEXANDER  PARTY 

11   A.M. 

come! 

The  man,  since  early  in  the  morning,  had  been  going 
through  the  streets,  ringing  a  bell  to  call  attention  to  the 
advertisement  easily  read  fore  and  aft. 

Though  late  at  night,  the  lights  on  the  ship  made  her 
presence  known,  and  before  landing  we  heard  the  sound  of 
the  tocsin — a  native  beating  upon  a  long  steel  rail — 
summoning  the  people  together  to  meet  the  American 
evangelists.  We  landed  in  the  dai'k,  and  it  was  a  weird 
sighjt,  the  glimmering  lights  in  all  directions  indicating  the 
coming  together  of  one  of  the  strangest  congregations  that 
Dr.  Chapman  had  ever  faced. 

The  Fiji  Islands  constitute  a  crown  colony  of  Great 
Britain,  and  Suva,  the  port  at  which  we  landed,  is  the  seat 


144     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

of  government.  Throughout  the  group  of  Islands  the 
Wesleyan  Mission  claims  about  eighty-five  thousand  adher- 
ents, and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  something  more  than 
ten  thousand.  Since  their  extraordinary  religious  revolu- 
tion took  place,  the  education  of  the  natives  has  been 
carried  on  by  these  two  denominations,  the  Wesleyans 
having  more  than  one  thousand  schools,  and  the  Roman 
Catholics  more  than  one  hundred.  Before  the  Gospel  had 
illumined  these  people,  cannibalism  prevailed,  and  this 
gruesome  custom  continued  as  "gastronomic  delight" 
imtil  the  Islands  were  annexed  to  Great  Britain.  Even  as 
late  as  1892  there  is  said  to  have  been  a  ''sporadic  recrudes- 
cence of  the  ancient  habit."  We  had  the  privilege  of 
being  introduced  to  a  native  who  claimed  to  be  the  only 
survivor  of  these  gastronomic  perverts,  and — judging  from 
his  appearance — he  had,  from  his  diet  of  human  flesh, 
suffered  no  loss  in  weight.  He  was  an  ugly  specimen  of 
humankind  and  but  little  worse  than  the  other  natives. 
Suva  has  a  population  of  something  less  than  fifteen 
hundred,  consisting  of  Fijians,  Europeans,  half-castes, 
Polynesians,  Rotumans,  a  few  Chinese,  and  some  non- 
descripts. 

The  audience  that  gathered  in  the  Town  Hall,  it  will  be 
readily  understood,  was  such  as  Dr.  Chapman  had  never 
before  faced.  Mr.  Alexander  began  with  ''He  Will  Hold 
Me  Fast,"  and  he  laboured  for  some  time  to  allay  the 
curiosity  that  could  be  detected  in  the  faces  of  the  singular 
mob  that  thronged  the  building,  and  to  produce  an  at- 
mosphere in  which  Dr.  Chapman  could  make  something 
like  an  effective  address.  Fully  equal  to  the  occasion,  he 
held  the  strange  audience  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of 
his  sermon.    He  began  with  a  happy  reference  to  the  coral 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  AUSTRALIA  145 

builders,  and  then  spoke  of  the  wisdom,  love,  and  power, 
which  had  called  these  billion  of  microscopic  workers  to 
create  and  to  defend  a  harbour  for  their  homes.  He  knew 
also  that  these  people  were  great  pearl  divers  and  he  told 
them  how  the  pearl  was  formed  and  of  its  price.  He 
presented  to  them  Jesus  of  whom  they  had  heard  through 
years  of  missionary  activity,  and  he  called  upon  those  in  the 
audience  to  accept  Him  as  their  Saviour.  The  result  was 
immediate  and  spontaneous.  That  was  the  only  religious 
service  held  in  the  town.  The  next  day  was  spent  in 
visiting  the  various  points  of  interest  which,  as  may  be 
imagined,  were  not  very  many. 

The  same  day  the  ship  weighed  anchor  and  we  steamed 
out  through  the  coral  reefs  on  the  last  lap  of  our  one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  forty  miles  to  Brisbane.  The 
calm  sail  through  the  tropical  seas  was  without  incident 
other  than  what  is  usual  on  such  a  voyage.  These  three 
weeks  upon  the  ocean,  with  the  brief  stops  at  Honolulu 
and  at  Suva,  had  given  to  Dr.  Chapman  that  physical 
rest  of  which  he  was  in  such  sore  need.  His  robust  nature 
enabled  him  to  recover  more  quickly  than  most  men  from 
physical  and  mental  exhaustion,  and  it  became  evident,  as 
we  neared  the  southern  continent,  that  he  would  be  in  fine 
condition  to  meet  the  strain  of  the  next  few  months. 

As  the  steamer  rounded  the  headland,  and  came  into 
Moreton  Bay,  he  would  have  been  a  prophet  indeed  if  he 
could  have  foretold  how  marvellous  was  to  be  the  manifesta- 
tion of  God's  spirit  in  the  ministry  that  awaited  him. 


CHAPTER  XI 

UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS 

Australia  stands,  a  world  by  itself,  in  the  waters  of  the 
southern  Pacific.  Excluding  Alaska  it  is  in  area  greater 
than  the  United  States.  Both  continents  appear  to  have 
followed  a  similar  process  of  physical  evolution. 

The  first  land  of  Australia  to  rise  from  its  ocean  bed  was 
the  coastal  range  in  the  east  extending  from  Cape  York  in 
the  north  to  the  southern  headlands  that  buttress  Victoria. 
In  the  same  manner  the  Appalachian  system  was  first 
lifted  along  America's  eastern  coastway. 

Next  in  process,  in  the  west  of  Australia,  there  sprang 
forth  broken  masses  of  ranges,  like  our  own  Sierras  and 
Rockies,  creating  a  western  wall  against  the  ocean. 

Between  these  two  mountain  systems,  in  the  very  long 
intervals,  rising  slowly  by  erosion  and  deposit,  was  formed 
the  western  slope  of  the  eastern  coast  ranges — known  as 
"The  Darling-Downs" — which  supply  abundant  mountain 
pasturage  for — it  is  claimed — a  hundred  million  sheep. 

The  balance  of  the  great  basin  remains  an  unchanged 
wilderness  of  eucalyptus  forests,  thorny  acacia  jungles, 
scrub  and  cane  savannas,  interspersed  with  meadows  and 
grain  fields,  and  drained  by  the  complicated  and  mysterious 
''Murray-Darling,"  inaccessible  from  the  sea,  and  yet  with 
two  thousand  miles  of  navigable  reaches  in  the  interior. 

In  the  settlement  of  the  two  continents  we  observe  both  a 
contrast  and  a  similarity.    The  dominating  power  of  the 

146 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  147 

old  world,  intolerant  alike  of  the  intensely  religious  and  the 
inordinately  wicked,  forced  the  ''righteous  over  much"  to 
take  refuge  in  New  England,  where  after  their  own  manner 
they  might  worship  God;  and  consigned  the  "wicked  over 
much"  to  Botany  Bay,  where  in  the  solitude  of  such  isola- 
tion they  should  have  abundant  leisure  to  reflect  upon  and 
repent  of  their  sins. 

The  unenforced  Australian  influx,  unlike  that  of  America 
recruited  from  every  quarter,  was  almost  exclusively  British, 
representing  no  religious  sect,  but  comprising  rather  the 
exploiters  of  commerce,  and  agriculturists  seeking  richer 
soil,  together  with  a  greater  number  of  hectic  nondescripts 
lured  by  the  promise  of  untold  wealth  of  gold.  Among 
them,  however,  were  men  of  distinction,  such  as  Henry 
Parkes,  Chief  Justice  Grifl^iths,  and  Barton  Berry,  knights 
of  the  empire,  and  themselves  empire  builders.  Sir 
Henry  Parkes,  a  great  constitutional  lawyer,  the  peer  of 
Peel  and  Gladstone,  has  been  spoken  of  as  the  John  Jay 
of  Australia.  Of  her  economic  administrators  one  of  the 
most  eflficient  was  Sir  Thomas  Brisbane,  a  Scotsman,  a 
general  in  the  British  Army,  who,  in  1821,  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  became  Governor 
of  the  state  of  New  South  Wales,  where  he  opened  great 
tracts  of  wilderness,  improved  live  stock,  extended  culture 
of  cane,  and  promoted  corporations  for  the  refining  of  sugar. 
The  city  of  Brisbane  and  the  river  bearing  the  name  were  so 
called  in  his  honour.  It  was  at  first  a  penal  colony,  estab- 
lished in  1825,  but  as  such  abandoned  in  1839.  Soon  after 
this  date  its  growth  began  by  the  advent  of  free  settlers, 
and  in  1859  it  was  made  the  capital  of  Queensland. 

All  of  this  and  much  more  was  of  the  deepest  interest  to 
Dr.  Chapman,  and  such  brief  mention  is  made  that  we  may 


148     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

better  appreciate  the  opportunities  that  beckoned  as  he  and 
his  party  disembarked  at  Pinkemba,  the  port  of  Brisbane, 
on  Saturday,  April  seventeenth,  1909. 

The  party  was  met  by  a  committee  from  Brisbane, 
among  whom  were  the  Rev.  W.  Swejm  MacQueen  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church;  W.  F.  Woodcraft,  and  W.  J.  Tunley, 
genial  and  devoted  men,  who  contributed  greatly  to  the 
success  of  the  mission. 

These  gentlemen  brought  greetings  and  the  assurance  of 
cordial  welcome  from  all  parts  of  the  continent.  They 
told  us  we  had  come  to  a  field  well  prepared  for  the  harvest, 
inasmuch  as  for  months  all  the  evangelical  churches  of 
Australia  had  been  praying  for  us  and  were  thereby  justified 
in  the  expectation  of  great  blessing. 

In  the  United  States  a  prayer-circle  of  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand  members  had  been  pledged  to  pray  daily 
for  the  mission,  and  when  Dr.  Chapman  was  assured  that 
Australian  churches  were  in  the  same  spirit,  he  had  reason 
to  think  as  did  Paul  when,  at  the  end  of  another  great  voy- 
age, some  brethren  met  him  at  Appii  forum  on  his  way  to 
Rome,  **whom  when  Paul  saw,  he  thanked  God,  and  took 
courage." 

After  conference  with  the  Committee,  Dr.  Chapman  and 
his  party  embarked  for  Sydney,  arriving  there  on  Monday, 
April  nineteenth.  Here  a  conference  was  held  with  the 
local  Committee,  and  on  the  next  day  the  party  left  for 
Melbourne,  arriving  there  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  April. 

All  arrangements  for  meetings  to  be  held  in  Queensland, 
New  South  Wales,  Victoria,  and  southern  Australia,  had 
been  supervised  by  local  committees,  which  had  decided 
that  the  work  should  begin  in  Melbourne. 

Sydney  and  Melbourne,  the  largest  of  the  Australian 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  149 

cities,  have  been  for  years  in  friendly  competition,  and  both 
have  marks  of  distinction  that  justify  their  claim  to  merit. 
They  may  be  compared  with  Boston  and  New  York. 

The  earliest  traditions  of  Boston  date  from  the  landing  at 
Plymouth  Rock.  Sydney  was  the  earliest  of  the  settle- 
ments in  Australia. 

As  Harvard  was  the  fu^t  centre  of  university  training  in 
America,  so  Sydney's  magnificent  university  was  the  first 
of  Australia's  great  institutions  of  learning. 

Melbourne,  founded  some  fifty  years  later,  like  New  York 
takes  justifiable  pride  in  the  extent  of  her  commerce. 

Sydney  claims  the  most  beautiful  and  commodious 
harbour  in  the  world.    Anthony  Trollope  writes: 

I  despair  of  being  able  to  convey  to  my  readers  my  own  idea  of  the 
beauty  of  Sydney  Harbour.  I  have  seen  nothing  equal  to  it  in  the  way 
of  land-locked  sea  scenery,  nothing  second  to  it.  Dublin  Bay,  the 
Bay  of  Spezzia,  and  the  Cove  of  Cork  are  all  picturesquely  fine; 
Bantry  Bay  with  the  Httle  nooks  of  sea  running  up  to  Glengariff  is  very 
lovely,  but  they  are  not  equal  to  Sydney  Harbour  either  in  shape, 
colour,  or  variety. 

Each  of  these  two  kindly  rival  cities  is  rapidly  acquiring 
the  good  things  of  the  other.  Melbourne  has  a  fine  univers- 
ity of  the  highest  grade.  Her  parliament  buildings,  erected 
for  the  commonwealth  of  Australia,  are  massive  and  impres- 
sive. 

Sydney's  streets,  especially  in  original  form,  are  Hke  those 
of  Boston,  irregular  and  crooked. 

Melbourne  has  her  broad  and  narrow  avenues  of  like 
name,  the  one  for  light,  the  other  for  heavy  traffic. 

In  brief,  both  are  beautiful  cities  with  modem  buildings, 
excellent  hotels,  splendid  transportation  facilities,  and  what- 
ever else  lends  attraction  to  metropolitan  centres. 


150    J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

The  first  meeting  in  Melbourne  was  held  on  Friday  the 
twenty-third  of  April  in  the  Exhibition  Building  with  a 
capacity  to  seat  ten  thousand.  The  building  was  crowded 
to  the  doors,  the  atmosphere  was  tense  and  electric,  not 
unlike  the  last  meeting  in  Boston. 

A  choir  of  twenty-five  hundred  had  been  admitted  by 
private  entrance  an  hour  before  the  service  began. 

Some  conception  of  the  extent  of  the  audience  chamber 
may  be  formed  when  it  is  stated  that  a  man  of  normal  vision, 
standing  at  the  rear  of  the  building  and  looking  at  the  choir, 
would  be  utterly  unable  to  distinguish  his  most  intimate 
friend.  Even  so  Dr.  Chapman's  voice,  losing  none  of  its 
sympathetic  quality,  could  be  heard  without  the  least  effort 
in  every  part  of  the  building.  Such  was  a  part  of  the  en- 
dowment of  one  ordained  of  God  to  speak  to  such  great 
multitudes.  To  enter  the  building  before  the  doors  were 
opened  and  to  watch  from  the  platform  the  throngs  as  they 
surged  in  was  uncommonly  interesting.  At  a  given  signal 
the  five  broad  entrances  would  open  and  the  crowds  pour  in. 
Have  you  ever  seen  a  great  dam  break  and  a  wall  of  water 
sweep  through  the  valley?  Have  you  ever  seen  a  tidal 
wave  rear  its  mighty  curling  crest  and  roll  itself  over  the 
land?  Only  comparable  to  these  was  such  an  inrush  of 
people.  When  hundreds  had  choked  the  aisles,  other  him- 
dreds  that  could  no  longer  be  held  back  leaped  over  the 
chairs,  and  swept  on  like  an  unbroken  surf-line  to  the  plat- 
form bulkhead.  What  at  the  beginning  seemed  like  a 
disorderly  mob,  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  of  it,  became 
a  quiet  and  dignified  audience  of  people  sitting  in  expectant 
silence  that  they  might  not  miss  the  message  that  was  to 
come  to  them  from  the  unseen  world. 

"All  Hail  the  Power  of  Jesus'  Name!"    It  was  the  voice 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  151 

of  Mr.  Alexander.  Mr.  Harkness  struck  the  keys.  It  came 
so  suddenly  that  many  seemed  to  catch  their  breath,  and 
only  about  five  hundred  sang  the  first  line.  The  second 
line  was  sung  by  five  thousand.  They  were  singing  to  the 
tune  of  "Coronation." 

"The  second  verse"— Alexander  announced,  and  read 
it: 

"Let  every  kindred,  every  tribe 
On  this  terrestrial  ball. 
To  Him  all  majesty  ascribe 
And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all." 

So  began  the  first  meeting  in  the  Exhibition  Building  of 
Melbourne. 

The  Rev.  Alexander  Stewart,  Chairman  of  the  local 
Committee,  presided,  and  at  the  close  of  the  praise  service 
called  upon  the  audience  to  stand  and  sing  the  Gloria. 
After  the  Gloria  Mr.  Naftzger  sang  the  prayer  which  Fanny 
Crosby,  then  in  her  ninetieth  year,  wrote  and  sent  to  us  as 
we  sailed  from  home: 

In  faith  we  see  the  blood-stained  Cross, 

Christ's  banner  high  unfurled. 
And  hail  with  shouts  of  Victory, 

This  mission  'round  the  world. 

And  when  beneath  your  native  skies 

Once  more  your  sails  are  furled 
May  new-born  souls,  by  millions,  crown 

This  mission  'round  the  world. 

Dr.  Stewart  then  introduced  in  succession  the  clergymen 
representing  the  various  denominations  uniting  in  the  mis- 
sion, all  of  whom  spoke  words  of  cordial  welcome. 

Following  these  addresses  another  gospel  song  was  sung 


152     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

and  then  the  Chairman  introduced  Dr.  Chapman.    He 
took  for  his  text  a  part  of  the  forty-fifth  Psalm: 

"I  speak  of  the  things  touching  the  King.  All  thy  garments  smell 
of  myrrh,  and  aloes,  and  cassia,  out  of  the  ivory  palaces." 

"These  words" — so  he  began — "are  the  touch  of  a  master-hand  in 
the  perfect  delineation  of  a  perfect  character.  They  are  a  poet's 
picture  of  the  Son  of  God.  To  the  eye  He  is  fair,  to  the  ear  gracious, 
and  He  is  armed  and  equipped  to  ride  in  mounted  majesty,  but  only 
for  righteousness. 

"He  has  come  from  the  Ivory  Palaces  and  thewayisone  of  splendour. 
I  have  seen  the  Tuilleries,  Windsor  Castle,  the  Alhambra;  but  in  com- 
parison these  are  tawdry  and  cheap,  as  we  think  of  those  transcendent 
Palaces  of  Ivory  from  which  Jesus  came  to  redeem  the  world.  He 
came  from  a  holy,  happy,  corporate  unity  with  the  Father  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  this  sin-embittered  world  which  he  created,  and  which 
knew  Him  not;  where  His  own  received  Him  not;  where  He  was 
despised  and  rejected  of  men,  a  man  of  sorrow  and  acquainted  with 
grief;  a  pilgrim  without  a  home,  a  wanderer  without  a  friend.  If  I 
could  make  men  feel  what  He  endured  as  He  came  out  from  the  Ivory 
Palaces  to  be  our  Saviour  not  one  could  resist  His  pleading." 

With  these  introductory  words  he  entered  upon  the  theme. 
He  set  forth  Christ  in  all  the  glory  of  His  Person  as  come 
forth  from  God  to  save  the  world .  He  ended  with  a  passion- 
ate appeal  to  the  unsaved  to  accept  God's  gift  of  life  through 
Christ.  Absolute  silence  reigned  throughout  the  building. 
The  great  audience  sat  enthralled  as  if  hearing  a  voice  that 
spoke  from  heaven.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  Dr.  Chap- 
man's eloquence.  Something  of  commanding  authority 
was  ever  about  him,  a  peculiar  sub-tone  of  living  concern 
for  those  to  whom  he  was  speaking;  so  that  the  individual 
hearer  always  had  the  impression  that  he  was  personally 
addressed.  But  these  things  cannot  account  for  the  ex- 
traordinary influence  exerted  by  him.  No  one  could  for  a 
moment  question  the  reality  of  the  presence  of  God.    He 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  153 

was  manifesting  Himself  through  the  testimony  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  incarnate  in  a  human  preacher. 

How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  Him  that  bring- 
eth  good  tidings,  that  publisheth  peace;  that  bringeth  good  tidings  of 
good,  that  publisheth  salvation;  that  saith  unto  Zion,  Thy  God 
reigneth! 

The  choir  began  to  sing,  brokenly  at  first,  for  some  were 
choking  with  emotion,  some  were  wiping  their  tears  away: 

"  In  loving  kindness  Jesus  came, 
My  soul,  in  mercy,  to  reclaim, 
And  from  the  depths  of  sin  and  shame, 
Through  grace  He  lifted  me." 

Mr.  Alexander  made  no  comment,  as  he  ordinarily  might 
have  done,  for  he  knew  full  well  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was 
moving  over  the  face  of  the  waters,  and  that  human  hearts 
were  too  full  even  to  give  expression  to  their  emotion  in  any 
song  of  whatever  singular  sweetness.  He  turned  and  spoke 
a  few  words  to  his  choir.  Then  he  said :  "  Let  the  choir  and 
the  floor  sing  the  second  verse." 

"For  the  last  verse  let  us  hear  the  galleries  alone." 
There  was  much  decrease  in  the  volume;  it  seemed  further 
away,  and  Mr.  Harkness  did  not  play.  ^  Then  from  some 
alcove,  far  up  in  the  recesses  of  the  great  trussed  roof,  came 
back  the  chorus  in  a  woman's  solo — it  was  Mrs.  Norton 
singing: 

"  From  sinking  sand  He  lifted  me; 
With  tender  hand  He  lifted  me; 
From  shades  of  night  to  plains  of  light, 
O,  praise  His  name,  He  lifted  me! " 

When  she  had  repeated  it,  it  seemed  as  if  a  curtain  had 
fallen,  and  the  song  died  away  and  was  lost  in  the  Ivory 


154     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Palaces.  There  was  a  moment  of  intense  silence:  then  the 
voice  of  Mr.  Alexander  rang  out — "Let  everybody  sing  it. 
Sing  it  in  the  present  tense,  He  lifteth  me!"  They  sang. 
As  the  mighty  volume  of  song  filled  the  Exhibition  Building, 
the  people  knew  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  moving  upon 
the  city  of  Melbourne.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  song  Dr. 
Chapman,  together  with  twenty  ministers,  stood,  and  there 
proceeded — what  someone  has  called — "The  March  Past  of 
the  Converts."  No  effort  was  made  to  get  the  mmiber  of 
them,  but  they  poured  in  from  every  aisle  and  down  from 
the  galleries — ^men,  women,  and  children,  representing  all 
classes  of  society,  now  merged  into  unity  through  faith  in 
Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  the  soul. 

This  first  meeting,  wonderful  enough,  was  by  no  means 
the  most  remarkable  of  the  series.  The  interest  deepened, 
the  numbers  increased  from  day  to  day,  great  throngs  be- 
sieged the  closed  doors  after  the  building  had  been  filled 
by  others  who  had  stood  patiently  and  persistently  at  earlier 
hours  and  in  greater  masses  that  they  might  be  sure  to  ob- 
tain admission.  Over-flow  services  were  arranged  and 
equally  thronged  by  people  that  desired  to  come  in  du*ect 
contact  with  the  influence  of  the  meetings. 

Every  day  at  noon  for  the  full  month,  the  twentieth  of 
April  to  the  twentieth  of  May,  in  the  Town  Hall,  there  was  a 
meeting  exclusively  for  business  men,  and  four  thousand 
filled  the  building  to  its  capacity. 

Meetings  for  women  conducted  by  Mrs.  Alexander,  Mrs. 
Norton,  and  Mrs.  Asher  were  arranged  and  held  in  various 
churches. 

There  were  meetings  for  business  young  women  during 
the  lunch  hour;  for  high  school  boys  and  girls  as  opportunity 
could  be  secured  or  created;  in  the  switchyards  for  railroad 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  155 

men,  and  along  wharves  for  sailors  and  longshoremen.  Not 
a  class  nor  a  soul  in  all  Melbourne  escaped  the  resourceful 
thought  of  Dr.  Chapman. 

Simultaneous  meetings  were  held  in  some  twenty-five 
or  thirty  surrounding  sections.  One  hour  each  morning 
was  set  apart  for  the  training  of  personal  workers  under  the 
leadership  of  Mr.  Norton  who  carefully  instructed  them  as 
to  the  methods  to  be  pursued  after  the  appeal  had  been 
made. 

This  brief  survey  of  the  beginning  of  the  movement  in 
Australia  is  but  an  illustration  of  the  method,  nature,  and 
fruitage  of  the  campaign  throughout  the  commonwealth. 
During  the  one  hundred  days  of  the  mission  Dr.  Chapman 
preached  three  hundred  times,  an  average  of  three  times 
each  day;  and,  if  we  add  coordinated  services,  the  aggregate 
would  be  not  less  than  one  thousand  meetings. 

Of  course  there  were  distinctive  conditions,  characteris- 
tics, and  incidents  in  the  different  cities. 

Dr.  Chapman  in  a  letter  dated  Melbourne,  May  fourteenth, 
and  addressed  to  his  brother-in-law.  Professor  H.  E.  DuBois 
of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  wrote  as  follows: 

Thursday  was  a  red  letter  day  in  our  experience  in  Melbourne. 
Thursday  morning  Doctor  Ottman  and  myself,  Mr.  Alexander,  Mr. 
Harkness,  and  Mr.  Dickson  were  invited  to  attend  the  Salvation  Army 
meeting.  Ten  or  twelve  hundred  Salvationists,  most  of  them  officers, 
were  assembled  in  the  hall  at  headquarters.  The  splendid  band  from 
Sydney  and  the  equally  good  band  from  Melbourne  were  in  attend- 
ance. When  we  entered  with  Commissioner  McKee  and  the  Chief 
Secretary  the  scene  was  simply  wonderful.  The  Salvationists  rose 
and  cheered  us  again  and  again,  and  did  not  cease  cheering  until  we 
were  all  seated,  and  then  the  Commissioner  lifted  his  hand  and  asked 
them  to  be  still.  It  was,  however,  only  for  a  moment.  The  Com- 
missioner then  rose  and  led  the  great  company  in  a  typical  Salvation 
Anny  song,  the  like  of  which  I  have  never  heard.    Their  upturned 


156     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

faces  were  shining;  they  were  clapping  their  hands;  they  were  shouting 
for  very  joy;  one  song  followed  another  until  at  last  we  questioned 
almost  whether  we  were  in  the  flesh  or  out.  Mr.  Alexander  was 
obliged  to  attend  another  meeting,  so  he  led  them  in  the  chorus — 
"Can  the  Lord  Depend  on  You?"  They  sang  it  over  and  over  as  I 
have  never  heard  it  sung  in  all  our  journeys.  I  had  the  privilege  of 
speaking  to  them  upon  the  text — "Amen,  saith  the  Spirit."  Among 
other  things  I  gave  them  the  story  that  I  heard  General  Booth  relate, 
and  I  thought  they  would  go  wild  with  enthusiasm.  A  picture  of  the 
meeting  was  taken,  and  we  came  away  saying  that  it  was  one  of  the 
best  experiences  we  had  ever  known. 

In  the  same  letter  he  gives  an  account  of  a  "Ministers' 
Day,"  when  fully  two  hundred  ministers  came  in  from  sur- 
rounding towns  and  at  least  five  hundred  clergymen  attended 
the  various  meetings  which  came  to  a  conclusion  at  the 
evening  service,  concerning  which  he  says: 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  rain  was  pouring  the  great  Exhibition  Hall 
was  filled  with  an  eager,  anxious  congregation.  More  than  seven 
thousand  people  were  within  the  walls.  From  the  moment  we  entered 
the  building  it  was  evident  to  us  that  the  spirit  of  God  was  present. 
The  singing  was  unusually  great.  Mr.  Naftzger's  solo  work  was  of 
the  very  highest  order;  indeed  he  seemed  to  surpass  himself.  My 
subject  was  "Eternity  "—the  text  Jeremiah  5:13— "What  will  you  do 
in  the  end?" 

From  the  moment  I  rose  to  speak  until  the  close  of  the  sermon  the 
most  intense  interest  prevailed.  I  have  never  known  of  an  audience 
so  hushed.  People  scarcely  moved  except  when  there  was  a  slight 
break  in  the  address  or  I  moved  from  one  point  to  another,  when  there 
could  be  heard  all  around  about  a  sigh  as  if  the  people  who  had  been 
listening  had  been  Hfted  entirely  out  of  themselves  and  only  realized 
where  they  were  when  the  break  came.  There  were  at  least  five  hun- 
dred ministers  from  all  parts  of  Victoria  in  the  audience  and  their 
presence  contributed  to  the  ever-deepening  spirit.  At  the  close  of  the 
address,  without  praying,  I  asked  all  the  men  in  the  audience  to  meet 
me  at  once  in  the  Banquet  Hall,  which  is  a  part  of  the  Exhibition 
Building.  Mr.  Alexander  with  the  great  choir  remained  with  Mrs. 
Asher  who  had  charge  of  the  service  for  the  women  in  the  larger  room. 
When  I  went  into  the  Banquet  Hall  the  scene  was  truly  beyond 
description.    At  least  two  thousand  men  were  crowded  in,  standing  so 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  157 

closely  together  that  all  you  could  behold  was  just  a  great  sea  of  faces 
turned  equally  toward  Mr.  Dickson  ani  Mr.  Hemminger,  who  were 
leading  them  in  singing.  I  stood  upon  an  improvised  platform  about 
four  feet  square,  and  made  an  appeal  to  the  men  to  turn  to  God  and  to 
forsake  sin;  when  I  asked  them  to  respond,  what  followed  surpassed 
anything  I  have  ever  witnessed  in  all  my  life.  I  called  upon  the 
Christian  men  present  who  may  have  had  a  secret  sin  eating  away  at 
their  spiritual  life  to  forsake  sin,  and  told  them  if  they  would  do  so  to 
lift  their  right  hand  and  say  "I  will."  The  chorus  of  "I  wills" 
sounded  like  the  rumbling  of  thunder.  I  then  said — **  Is  there  a  man 
here  who  is  a  drunkard  who  would  like  to  be  saved?"  and  twenty-five 
or  thirty  men  responded  instantly — "I  would.  I  would."  I  then 
asked  if  any  gamblers  were  present  and  wanted  to  become  Christians, 
and  at  least  ten  men  responded  that  they  did.  Then  I  ceased  to 
mention  specifically  the  sins,  but  asked  every  man  who  wished  me  to 
pray  for  him  to  lift  his  hand.  It  seemed  as  if  there  were  a  hundred, 
possibly  more,  who  responded.  I  then  asked  them  to  come  to  the 
front,  and  although  the  crowd  was  so  dense,  yet  men  involuntarily 
fell  back  and  those  seeking  Christ  pushed  their  way  to  the  front. 

The  way  of  life  was  explained  by  Mr.  Allan,  a  Scotch  Evangelist, 
and  Henry  Varley,  an  English  Evangelist,  and  Mr.  Virgo  of  Sydney; 
while  at  the  close  Doctor  Ottman  led  in  the  prayer  of  consecration. 
After  the  plan  had  been  explained,  and  the  men  were  asked  definitely 
to  yield  to  Christ,  they  came  literally  by  the  score  to  take  me  by  the 
hand  and  profess  their  allegiance  to  Christ.  I  tested  them  again  and 
again  and  they  never  flinched.  The  meeting  was  indescribable  in  its 
spiritual  power;  strong  men  sobbed,  some  men  shouted,  others  sang 
for  very  joy;  one  shouted,  "praise  to  him  who  has  given  me  the  most 
marvellous  religious  experience  of  my  life.  "The  men  all  joined  under 
Mr.  Hemminger  in  singing  the  verse  of  the  old  hymn — "He  breaks  the 
power  of  canceled  sin.  He  sets  the  prisoner  free."  Again  and  again  the 
old  hymn  rang  out.  All  the  time  the  spiritual  tide  was  rising  higher. 
Above  the  singing  you  could  hear  the  sobs  of  penitent  men.  At  my 
feet  three  men  were  kneeling  with  their  faces  buried  in  their  hands. 
They  scarcely  raised  their  heads  during  the  entire  time;  one  of  them 
moaned  over  and  over — "My  God!  My  God!"  Personal  workers 
moved  here  and  there  among  the  crowd.  As  a  result  of  the  evening's 
work  more  than  two  hundred  confessed  Christ  and  proclaimed  him  as 
their  Saviour.  Not  less  than  two  hundred  ministers  were  present  in 
the  after  meeting,  and  the  universal  testimony  was  that  the  experience 
had  been  pentecostal;  they  all  declared  that  in  all  their  lives  they  had 


158     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

never  seen  anything  that  in  any  way  approached  this  marvellous 
exhibition  of  the  power  of  God. 

Suddenly  at  one  of  the  doors  there  was  great  excitement— a  young 
man  had  dropped  to  the  floor;  a  doctor  was  hurriedly  summoned; 
the  young  man  was  carried  by  the  officers  into  another  room  in  the 
Exhibition  Building;  when  I  went  to  see  him,  he  was  lying  upon  a 
bench,  his  face  as  white  as  death,  his  collar  open,  his  hands  cold.  By 
his  side  stood  a  doctor,  and  holding  his  hand  was  a  nurse.  The  doc- 
tor said,  after  I  had  prayed  for  the  boy,  "this  young  man  wishes  to 
tell  you  something."  And  when  I  bent  over  he  whispered— "  I— 
don't— want— you— to— think— that  —I— fell  —because —I  —was  — 
sick.  It— was— all— because— of —my— sin.  In  the— sermon— you— 
uncovered — my  sin — and — when — I  saw — it — I  was — stricken — 
down— but— I— have  accepted— Christ— and  I— know  He— will- 
forgive  me.    It— was— my  sin.    It— was— my  sin.'* 

The  personal  workers  remained  until  midnight  dealing  with  those 
who  were  concerned,  and  this  morning,  go  where  you  would,  men  were 
telling  each  other  that  they  had  witnessed  the  most  marvellous  ex- 
hibition of  God's  power  of  all  their  lives. 

At  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  Doctor  Ottman  and  I  attended  a  ban- 
quet of  business  men  called  together  to  discuss  the  organization  of  a 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement.  We  both  had  the  privilege  of 
speaking,  and  we  were  told  to-day  that  the  organization  would  very 
soon  be  completed. 

From  this  meeting  we  went  to  our  fifth  service  for  the  day,  and  came 
home  at  night  tired  out,  but  saying  that  the  day  had  been  truly  most 
inspiring  and  wonderful. 

Following  the  campaign  in  Melbourne  the  party  went  to 
Sydney.  The  city  and  suburbs,  and  even  adjacent  cities, 
had  been  divided  into  twenty-five  centres  where  the  simul- 
taneous campaign  was  to  be  carried  on,  each  with  its  own 
resident  leader  and  organization.  The  Rev.  P.  J.  Stephen 
was  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  which  arranged 
all  schedules. 

Each  centre  where  simultaneous  meetings  were  in  prog- 
ress was  visited  by  Dr.  Chapman  as  the  time  could  be  con- 
veniently arranged  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  central 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  159 

meetings  conducted  by  him  in  the  Town  Hall.  Auxiliary 
quiet-hour  services,  special  services  for  business  men, 
meetings  for  women,  conducted  by  Mrs.  Alexander,  Mrs. 
Norton,  and  Mrs.  Asher,  and  a  noon  lunch-hour  service  for 
clerks  and  employees  were  held  daily  in  the  Town  Hall  and 
always  with  a  capacity  crowd. 

As  a  rule  the  religious  weeklies  and  daily  newspapers  vied 
with  each  other  in  reporting  in  the  kindest  of  terms  every 
detail  of  the  meetings;  but  in  Melbourne,  where  the  city 
had  been  so  thoroughly  shaken,  some  newspaper  editors 
were  at  first  critical  and  then  positively  vindictive.  Articles 
appeared  assuming  the  support  of  the  Established  Church 
and  Clergy.  Dr.  Chapman,  intensely  sensitive  in  nature, 
could  not  feel  otherwise  than  aggrieved;  yet  he  gave  no  in- 
dication of  irritation,  but  calmly  and  earnestly  continued 
his  work.  Suddenly  there  came  an  unexpected  and  authori- 
tative vindication. 

The  Australian  Churchman^  the  official  organ  of  the 
Anglican  Church,  printed  an  article  as  follows: 


One  of  the  mid-day  meetings  in  Melbourne  was  graced  by  the 
presence  on  the  platform  of  four  Anglican  bishops  with  their  chaplains. 
A  few  days  later  a  number  of  Church  of  England  clergymen  enter- 
tained Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  at  a  luncheon  in  the 
Vienna  Cafe.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  repast,  the  Bishop  of  Bendigo, 
Doctor  Langley,  who  presided,  expressed  on  his  own  behalf  and  of  his 
brother  clergymen  the  pleasure  they  felt  upon  this  opportunity,  and 
he  and  they  all  thanked  God  from  their  hearts  that  He  had  brought 
these  dear  friends  to  their  midst  and  permitted  them  to  undertake 
such  splendid  work  in  Melbourne. 

The  Bishop  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  S.  C.  Kent  of  Albert  Park, 
the  oldest  minister  in  the  Diocese  of  Melbourne.  He  had  listened 
to  Doctor  Chapman  daily  with  thankfulness  and  profit.  It  was 
difficult  to  estimate  all  the  effects  of  the  work  that  had  been 
done,   but  he  thanked   God  profoundly  for  the  splendid  results 


160     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN—A  BIOGRAPHY 

already  apparent.  They  had  been  kept  very  close  to  God  during  the 
mission. 

Canon  Sadlier,  St.  Kilda,  read  a  letter  from  a  brother  clergyman 
regretting  his  inability  to  attend  the  luncheon,  and  wherein  he  says: 
"I  go  to  every  mid-day  service  and  personally  have  received  great 
benefit.  They— (the  missioners)  — have  reached  many  of  my  people 
for  good.  Doctor  Chapman  may  not  be  of  the  line  of  Apostolic  suc- 
cession but  he  is  of  the  line  of  Holy  Ghost  succession  and  that  is  the 
higher  line  (Applause).  I  rejoice  that  the  Doctor  has  not  replied 
to  those  who  are  publicly  criticising  him.  God's  Spirit  is  permeating 
through  him  and  may  God  continually  bless  his  work." 

Canon  Sadlier  warmly  endorsed  the  sentiments  in  the  letter  without 
quahfication.  He  then  related  the  story  of  a  Marist  brother  who 
would  have  been  a  priest  if  his  examiners  had  not  "found  an  obscurity 
of  vision  on  the  gospel  side."  "In  other  words,"  said  the  Canon,  "he 
was  blind  in  the  right  eye.  Some  of  the  people  who  are  criticising 
Doctor  Chapman  are  blind  in  both  eyes  (Laughter  and  applause). 
I  have  made  a  careful  analysis  of  every  objection  that  has  been  made 
against  Doctor  Chapman  and  his  methods  and  have  found  that  every- 
one has  been  urged  against  Christianity  from  its  earliest  days.  At 
present  we  are  witnessing  one  of  the  greatest  spiritual  movements  of 
history.  I  have  only  to  look  at  my  own  church  and  congregation  to 
see  it.  Last  Sunday  night  there  were  many  present  who  had  decided 
for  Christ  through  the  mission.  We  are  being  swept  by  an  irresistible 
storm,  by  the  force  of  the  Spirit  of  God." 

Bishop  Langley  then  trusted  that  Doctor  Chapman  would  "convey 
some  words  of  wisdom,  counsel,  and  benefit." 

The  Doctor  said  that  nothing  could  give  him  more  satisfaction  than 
this  approval  of  his  brethren  of  the  Anglican  Church  and  with  whom 
both  in  Australia  and  America  he  was  glad  to  be  found  in  such  entire 
accord.  He  had  preached  in  the  Anglican  Cathedral  in  Minneapolis 
at  the  invitation  of  the  Bishop  and  when  he  came  down  from  the  pulpit 
the  Bishop  addressed  to  him  some  of  the  most  encouraging  and  help- 
ful words  that  he  had  ever  hstened  to.  He  said  he  was  not  an  evangel- 
ist from  choice;  that  he  had  been  led  into  his  present  office  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  In  the  present  mission  they  were  trying  to  create  an 
atmosphere  for  the  minister;  that  all  the  churches  contained  men  en- 
dowed to  this  end,  and  in  America  we  were  trying  to  make  it  possible 
for  every  such  man  to  go  out  unhampered  in  such  testimony,  and 
would  be  only  too  happy  if  like  results  might  follow  here  (Pro- 
longed applause.) 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  161 

Such  a  statement,  from  so  authoritative  a  source,  was  an 
all-sufficient  vindication  of  Dr.  Chapman's  methods.  We 
have  only  to  add  an  extract  from  an  editorial  published  in 
Sydney: 

We  confess  to  feelings  of  indignation  and  shame  as  we  read  the 
strictures  and  criticisms  recently  uttered  in  a  certain  section  of  the 
public  press  upon  the  motives  and  methods  of  the  evangelists  who 
have  been  labouring  with  such  phenomenal  success  in  Melbourne. 
No  one  who  has  listened  dispassionately  to  the  sober  and  powerful 
address  of  Doctor  Chapman  can  do  less  than  thank  God  with  all  his 
heart  for  the  penetrating  effectiveness  of  the  Word  of  God  by  His 
servant's  mouth. 

These  men  and  their  associates  are  doing  a  mighty  work  for  which 
the  church  cannot  be  sufficiently  grateful,  a  work  which  was  never 
more  needed  than  now;  and  they  are  doing  it  with  costly  faithfulness. 
But  their  work  has  limitations  which  we  do  well  to  recognize.  The 
responsibilities  of  Christian  pastors  and  people  begin  where  the 
evangelist  leaves  off.  If  these  multitudes  who  have  been  brought  to 
gaze  wistfully  and  with  earnest  longing  upon  the  splendid  possibilities 
of  newness  of  life  in  Christ,  and  have  made  the  first  crucial  act  of  will 
in  faith  and  obedience  are  now  gathered  into  the  ordered  life  of  the 
organized  churches  for  growth  and  service,  the  fault  will  be  with  us 
who  were  in  Christ  before  them,  and  not  with  the  evangelist  whom 
the  Spirit  of  God  has  used  to  open  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  their  vision. 
The  percentage  of  abortiveness  and  backsliding  will  be  a  true  measure 
of  the  failure  of  the  Church  to  garner  and  utilize  the  harvest  which 
the  evangelistic  effort  has  reaped.  The  church  is  on  its  trial  as  to  its 
competency  to  absorb  this  new  material. 

The  Churchman,  in  common  with  the  secular  press  of 
both  cities,  gave  wide  circulation  to  the  following  action: 

Melbourne,  Victoria,  20th  of  May,  1909. 
To  THE  Council  of  Churches  at  Sydney: 

Brethren: 

On  behalf  of  the  Council  of  Churches  of  Victoria  we  have  the 
honour  and  pleasure  of  informing  you  that  at  a  special  meeting  of  the 
Council  held  yesterday  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to  forward  to  you 
the  following  Resolution  and  Memorandum: 


162     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Resolved:  This  Council  of  churches  desires  to  express  its  thankful- 
ness to  Almighty  God  for  the  rich  spiritual  blessings  that  have  ac- 
companied the  labours  of  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  Mr.  Charles  M. 
Alexander,  and  their  devoted  band  of  fellow  workers  in  connection 
with  the  Evangelistic  Mission  just  closed  in  our  City. 

Memorandum — Doctor  Chapman  has  introduced  to  us  a  new  type 
of  Evangelism  which  on  account  of  its  thoroughness  and  sanity  has 
won  our  full  confidence.  His  addresses  have  been  characterized  by 
directness,  reverent  f orcefulness,  and  richness  of  spiritual  power.  The 
crowds  attending  the  services  have  more  than  taxed  the  capacity  of  our 
largest  halls  and  the  Exhibition  Building.  Of  great  significance  is  the 
enormous  attendance  at  the  meeting  for  men  only,  and  the  numbers 
who  have,  on  such  occasion,  decided  for  Christ.  All  the  various  de- 
partments of  the  campaign— the  great  choir  singing  the  Gospel  in  solo 
and  chorus,  the  Pocket  Testament  League,  the  Personal  Worker's 
Conferences,  work  in  the  slums,  in  factories,  in  railroad  yards,  on  the 
wharfs,  at  lunch  hours  for  whomsoever,  and  specials  for  women  only, 
etc.,  etc.,  have  manifested  the  same  wisdom,  eflSciency,  and  power.  No 
adverse  criticism  has,  in  any  way,  lessened  the  outstanding  good  of 
the  Mission  but  has  rather  turned  to  its  advantage.  The  results 
of  such  a  movement  cannot  at  so  early  a  period  be  tabulated  or 
adequately  estimated,  but  there  are  evidences  so  strong  and  numerous 
as  to  be  convincing  that  a  permanent  uplift  has  come  to  the  spiritual 
life  of  the  community. 

This  Council  therefore  most  cordially  recommends  Doctor  Chapman 
and  Mr.  Alexander  and  their  party  to  the  Councils  of  Churches 
throughout  the  Commonwealth,  believing  that  they  are  especially 
capable  men,  commissioned  of  God  for  the  work  of  evangelism. 
Fraternally  yours  in  Christian  Service, 

T.  S.  B.  WooDFULL,  President 
Walter  J.  Eddy,  Secretary. 

Another  editorial,  from  the  Australian  Christian  World 
with  display  headlines — 

A  STRONG  TEAM— That  is  our  verdict  of  the  three  ladies,  Mrs. 
Alexander,  Mrs.  Asher,  and  Mrs.  Norton  who  are  conducting  meetings 
for  women  only. 

Mrs.  Alexander  is  a  delightful  speaker  whose  tender,  winsome  words 
are  backed  up  by  sound  culture  and  a  remarkable  depth  and  sound- 
ness of  Christian  character.    She  will  surely  tell  in  the  course  of  the 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  163 

meetings,  the  story  of  the  Pocket  Testament  League,  which  she 
founded  when  a  school-girl  of  twelve  and  which  to-day  encircles  the 
earth. 

Mrs.  Asher  is  a  specialist.  She  goes  straight  for  marred,  broken, 
sin-cursed  lives,  and  her  skilled  touch  has  healing  in  it.  She  will  go 
anywhere  and  is  not  afraid  of  a  drunken  woman.  That  does  not 
mean,  however,  that  she  is  not  equally  at  home  with  happy,  innocent 
girls. 

Mrs.  Norton  is  an  exquisite  musician.  Her  singing  has  touched 
many  a  heart  in  Melbourne  and  in  Sydney,  and  made  it  instantly 
receptive  to  the  Gospel  message. 

With  such  public  testimony,  expressing  the  conviction  of 
great  multitudes,  there  was  heard  no  further  word  of 
criticism  during  the  entire  period  of  the  campaign. 

An  interesting  incident  occurred  at  the  evening  service  on 
the  seventeenth  of  June  when,  just  before  Dr.  Chapman 
addressed  the  audience  of  five  thousand,  the  Rev.  P.  J. 
Stephen,  President  of  the  local  Committee  for  the  campaign, 
announced  that  they  were  there  gathered  in  a  most  propi- 
tious hour — namely — ^the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Dr. 
Chapman's  birth.  Instantly  the  whole  audience  rose  to  its 
feet  and  many  stood  upon  benches  and  broke  out  into 
explosive  and  long-continued  applause,  with  interjected 
shouts,  and  waving  of  handkerchiefs.  When  the  en- 
thusiasm had  sufficiently  ebbed  to  enable  Mr.  Stephen  to  be 
heard,  he  expressed  the  wish  that  the  Doctor  might  be 
spared  to  continue  his  great  testimony  for  another  fifty 
years. 

**The  Committee''— Mr.  Stephen  said — "could  not 
permit  the  occasion  to  pass  without  signifying  their  good- 
will and  love  to  him,  and  which  they  wish  to  express  in 
presenting  a  slight  memento  which  he  might  bear  away  as 
a  reminder  of  the  happiness  and  blessing  which  he  had 
brought  to  Sydney." 


164     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

*'It  was" — so  he  continued — "a  watch-chain,  beautifully 
wrought,  made  from  gold  mined  in  Australia,  every  link  of 
which  was  a  link  of  love,  binding  the  heart  of  every  member 
of  the  Committee  to  him  forever-more." 

*'We  have  never" — concluded  the  speaker — "been  as- 
sociated with  a  man  who  has  so  captured  our  hearts  as  has 
Dr.  Chapman;  and  not  ours  alone,  but  the  imiversal  heart 
of  the  people  of  Australia." 

Whatever  else  he  said  was  lost  in  the  tremendous  ap- 
plause that  followed. 

On  the  same  day  the  Presbyterians  met  to  express  their 
peculiar  affection  for  Dr.  Chapman  by  virtue  of  their 
allegiance  to  the  same  form  of  doctrine.  These  ministers 
presented  him  with  a  fine  travelling  bag  suitably  inscribed, 
together  with  a  valuable  steamer  rug.  In  presenting 
these,  the  Rev.  John  Ferguson  assured  Dr.  Chapman  that 
"all  the  Presbyterian  ministers  loved  him." 

Concerning  this  memorable  day  Dr.  Chapman  wrote: 

My  birthday  passed  off  with  great  enthusiasm.  In  the  first  place, 
the  members  of  the  party  had  arranged  for  a  breakfast  in  one  of  the 
smaller  dining  rooms  of  this  hotel.  The  table  was  beautifully  deco- 
rated, and  they  presented  to  me  a  most  beautifully  illuminated  book 
with  appropriate  Scripture  for  the  day,  the  pictures  of  the  party,  their 
names  signed  in  it,  and  bound  in  beautiful  morocco.  I  really  liked  it 
almost  more  than  anything  I  received.  Then  Agnes  and  Hamilton 
save  n^  a  fine  silk  piece  for  my  neck  to  wear  under  my  coat.  In  the 
morning  I  had  a  conference  with  the  Presbyterian  ministers  of  the 
state  of  New  South  Wales,  and  they  gave  me  a  most  beautiful  travel- 
ling bag  with  a  fine  travelling  rug.  When  we  came  to  the  mid-day 
meeting,  which  was  crowded,  the  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee made  a  beautiful  address,  and  gave  me  from  the  Committee  a 
long  gold  watch  chain  which  goes  around  my  neck.  Altogether,  the 
day  was  to  me  a  great  delight.  I  could  not  tell  you  how  many  flowers 
were  sent  in,  but  the  room  was  filled  with  them.  I  feel  as  if  I  were 
setting  to  be  quite  an  old  man  inasmuch  as  I  am  past  fifty. 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  165 

The  last  meeting  in  Sydney  was  held  on  the  evening  of  the 
twenty-second  of  June  in  the  Town  Hall  which  was  packed 
to  the  doors.  There  was  a  hush  upon  the  great  throng. 
Mighty  issues  were  impending.  Decisions  were  made  and 
registered  in  heaven. 

The  party  was  to  leave  for  Brisbane  the  following  morning 
by  an  early  train  and  there  arose  an  insistent  demand  for 
''just  one  more  meeting."  A  service  was  appointed  for  the 
following  morning,  and  in  the  dim  dawn,  before  the  rising 
of  the  sun,  the  Town  Hall  was  filled  with  people.  Dr. 
Chapman  once  more  spoke  to  them  of  eternal  life.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  service  the  audience  followed  the  party 
into  the  streets  so  that  trolley  traffic  was  blocked  by  the 
cheering  crowds. 

In  a  letter  dated  Brisbane,  July  first.  Dr.  Chapman  writes 
of  this  day  as  follows: 


We  left  Sydney  Monday  morning  at  nine  o'clock.  The  Executive 
Committee  had  arranged  for  a  final  farewell  service  at  half-past  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  in  the  Town  Hall.  The  police  told  us  that 
some  people  were  there  as  early  as  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  wait- 
ing to  get  in.  Before  half-past  seven  four  thousand  people  were  in- 
side the  Hall  and  the  crowd  outside  was  almost  without  number. 
We  left  the  Hall  at  half-past  eight,  and  then  from  the  Town  Hall, 
which  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  to  the  railway  station, 
which  is  at  least  eight  or  ten  blocks,  there  was  an  indescribable 
experience.  A  crowd  variously  estimated  at  from  twenty  to 
thirty  thousand  people  followed  us  to  the  station,  cheering 
constantly.  We  were  in  automobiles,  but  of  course  the  crowd 
was  surging  though  the  streets  on  foot.  All  classes  and  conditions 
of  people  were  there.  A  moving  picture  was  taken  of  the  procession, 
which  I  hope  may  turn  out  well.  The  entire  reserve  police 
force  of  the  city  was  called  into  service  to  get  us  safely  through 
the  crowd.  When  finally  the  train  started,  we  left  Sydney  with  at 
least  five  thousand  people  singing  "  God  be  with  you  till  we  meet 
again." 


166     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Such  was  the  cordial  good-bye  of  the  Sydney  people 
until  the  final  farewell  to  be  given  when  the  party  should 
leave  for  the  Orient. 

On  the  way  to  Brisbane,  at  the  various  railway  stations, 
many  people  had  gathered  hoping  to  hear  a  few  words 
while  the  train  halted.  At  Ipswich,  Mr.  W.  J.  Tunley, 
representing  the  local  Committee,  stepped  on  board  to  give 
the  party  official  conduct. 

As  the  train  drew  into  the  station  there  was  a  service  in 
progress  at  the  Salvation  Army  Hall,  and  the  audience 
adjourned  en  masse,  notwithstanding  a  heavy  rainfall,  to 
augment  the  crowd  at  the  station.  A  thousand  strong  t*hey 
sang  "The  Glory  Song,"  as  the  Sydney  Mail  steamed  in. 
The  Rev.  W.  Sweyn  MacQueen,  Chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee, was  present  to  give  the  party  official  welcome  as  was 
also  Mr.  Whitlow,  representing  the  Controller  General  of 
Queensland,  who  handed  to  Dr.  Chapman  papers  conveying 
the  freedom  of  the  city  for  himself  and  company,  a  mark  of 
favour  extended  usually  only  to  guests  of  the  state.  Then 
a  few  files  of  policemen,  under  command  of  Inspector 
Mesterson,  opened  a  path  to  the  waiting  carriages,  and  the 
party  was  taken  to  the  Gresham  Hotel. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  Dr.  Chapman  met  the 
local  Committee,  and  on  the  following  afternoon  at  four 
o'clock  the  series  was  formally  opened  by  a  meeting  in  St. 
Andrews  Presbyterian  Church.  The  welcome  was  most 
hearty,  extended  by  the  Archbishop  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  the  Brigadier  of  the  Salvation  Army,  and  the 
representatives  of  all  other  evangelical  bodies. 

Mr.  MacQueen  presided  and  introduced  Archbishop 
Donaldson  of  the  Archdiocese  of  Australia,  who  said  he 
"looked  upon  Dr.  Chapman  and  his  companions  in  the 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  167 

light  of  Prophets;  that  all  through  the  ages  God  had  given 
two  orders  of  men  to  the  church.  It  was  so  in  ancient 
Israel  and  it  is  so  to-day:  there  was  the  Levitical  Priesthood 
that  had  to  keep  up  the  daily  services,  but  there  were  also 
the  Prophets  who  were  raised  up  to  prevent  the  religious 
life  of  the  people  from  sinking  down  into  coldness  and 
formality.  These  Missioners  are  raised  up  to-day  to  keep 
us  from  becoming  apathetic  and  half-hearted  in  the  mighty 
testimony  to  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour,  God's  glorious  Son." 

The  Archbishop  was  followed  by  words  of  welcome  from 
ministers  representing  the  various  denominations  of  the  city. 

Dr.  Chapman  acknowledged  the  generous  welcome  and 
pledged  the  fullest  endeavour  of  all  his  associates.  He 
expressed  the  conviction  that  the  time  of  God's  visitation 
upon  Brisbane  had  come,  and  he  made  an  earnest  plea  for 
their  continued  faith  in  prayer. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  at  seven-thirty  o'clock, 
the  first  general  service  was  held  in  the  city's  largest 
auditorium,  the  Exhibition  Building,  and  with  the  un- 
varying result — every  seat  occupied  and  the  aisles  and 
lobbies  packed  with  people  standing.  To  give  in  detail  an 
account  of  the  service  would  be  but  to  rehearse  what  had 
taken  place  both  in  Melbourne  and  Sydney.  Dr.  Chapman 
preached  and  the  response  was  immediate  and  even  beyond 
the  most  sanguine  expectation.  The  city  responded,  the 
meetings  were  thronged,  the  results  were  the  same. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Brisbane  meetings  the  long 
journey  of  something  like  seventeen  hundred  miles  was 
taken  by  rail  to  Adelaide  where  the  party  arrived  on  the 
sixteenth  of  July,  1909.  Mr.  Delahanty,  the  Secretary  of 
the  local  Committee,  met  the  party  and  guided  it  to  the 
South  Australian  Hotel  which  had  been  chosen  as  head- 


168     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

quarters  during  the  mission.  The  ever-alert  reporter  was 
there  watching  for  his  opportunity.  Reporters  from  Syd- 
ney and  Melbourne  also  had  come  on  the  same  train  in 
order  to  report  the  progress  of  the  mission.  In  response  to 
a  question  put  to  him  by  the  reporter  from  the  Adelaide 
Advertiser,  Dr.  Chapman  said: 

"It  is  my  first  visit  to  Australia  and  I  am  profoundly 
impressed  by  the  charm  of  the  people  and  the  possibilities  of 
the  land.  It  would  be  a  good  thing  for  both  America  and 
Australia  if  the  stream  of  emigration  from  the  Old  World 
could  be  diverted  from  us  to  your  splendid  commonwealth. 
I  have  never  worked  with  men  to  whom  I  have  been  more 
warmly  drawn,  nor  addressed  more  reverent  crowds.  Mr. 
Alexander  and  I  believe  that  we  have  the  solution  of  many 
or  most  if  not  all  of  the  problems  which  are  confronting  the 
churches." 

''And  this  solution  is  what?  "  inquired  the  reporter. 

"The  preaching  of  the  Gospel,"  answered  Dr.  Chapman, 
promptly.  And  then  he  proceeded  to  elucidate  what  he 
meant  by  the  Gospel. 

The  first  two  services  in  Adelaide  were  held  in  the  Pirie 
Street  Methodist  Church,  seating  fifteen  hundred  people. 
It  was  thereafter  necessary  to  open  the  Exhibition  Hall 
seating  five  thousand. 

The  last  Sunday  in  Adelaide  was  the  crowning  day.  In 
the  afternoon,  at  a  meeting  for  men  exclusively,  the  Exhibi- 
tion Hall,  despite  a  heavy  rainfall,  was  filled  and  a  great 
throng  made  public  confession  of  their  surrender  to  Christ. 
The  evening  service  was  devoted  to  the  converts.  They 
were  assembled  in  the  body  of  the  hall,  the  wings  and 
galleries  being  thrown  open  to  all.  Dr.  Chapman  spoke 
to  them  upon  the  subject:    "What  it  means  to  be  bom 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  169 

again— the  fact,  the  experience,  the  new  possibilities,  the 
responsibilities."  Then  began  the  long  procession  of 
converts  to  confirm  at  the  altar  their  deliberate  choice  of 
Jesus  to  be  their  Saviour.  They  gave  their  hands  to  the 
evangelists  in  pledge,  and  each  received  the  Convert's 
Card,  on  which  were  printed  suggestions  for  conserving  the 
spiritual  life.  It  was  one  of  the  most  impressive  scenes  of 
the  campaign  in  Australia.  First  came  the  men,  then  the 
women,  and  then  the  boys — ^the  boys  who  had  accepted 
Christ  in  the  meetings  specially  arranged  for  them.  They 
filled  the  middle  aisle  of  the  building.  There  was  a  pro- 
found silence  and  then  Mr.  Alexander  began,  to  an  old  and 
well-known  melody,  the  simple  song— "There  are  angels 
hovering  round."  Surely  no  one  present  at  the  service 
could  ever  forget  it.  Dr.  Chapman  made  a  solemn  and 
earnest  appeal  to  them  to  consecrate  their  lives  to  Christ, 
and  so  the  meeting  ended. 

Two  cities,  the  youngest  in  years,  the  greatest  in  growth, 
the  cities  of  the  goldfields,  Ballarat  and  Bendigo,  were  yet 
to  be  visited  before  the  final  farewells  were  made. 

The  early  central  meetings  in  Ballarat  were  held  in 
Alfred  Hall,  but  afternoon  meetings  were  at  St.  Andrews 
Kirk,  Sturt  Street;  and  the  simultaneous  feature  embraced 
St.  Johns,  Pell  Street;  Baptist,  Victoria  Street;  and  churches 
on  Neil  and  Rubicon  streets.  There  was  a  strong  local 
Committee  comprised  of  several  ministers  with  the  Rev. 
J.  Walker  as  President.  The  Committee  issued  display 
invitation  cards  printed  in  black  and  red,  and  entitled: 
''The  King's  Business."  The  press  was  most  cordial,  the 
Star  and  the  Courier  giving  many  columns  daily,  with 
headlines,  to  the  mission.  The  final  services  were  held  in 
the  Coliseum. 


170     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

To  Bendigo  could  be  accorded  only  a  single  week,  but 
that  week  was  replete  with  interest.  It  was  the  home- 
town of  Mr.  Harkness,  Mr.  Alexander's  associate  and  the 
composer  of  several  of  his  best  songs.  His  father,  Mr. 
Andrew  Harkness,  was  a  former  mayor  of  the  city,  and  at 
the  time  of  our  visit  his  son  was  filling  the  same  office. 
During  the  week  Bendigo  was  thrilled  with  the  account  of 
an  act  of  heroism  by  a  man  named  Davies  who  had  rescued 
a  mate  in  a  terrific  mine  explosion.  The  missioners  de- 
scended the  mine  with  Mr.  Davies,  and  the  rescue  became 
a  fruitful  theme  for  illustration  of  the  yet  greater  peril  and 
salvation  that  they  had  come  to  proclaim.  The  main 
services  were  held  in  the  Royal  Princess  Theatre  with  the 
specials  and  over-flows  in  various  churches  and  at  the 
Town  Hall  of  Eaglehawk.  The  same  Gospel  was  preached. 
The  same  throngs  crowded  to  its  proclamation.  The 
same  results  followed. 

On  the  ninth  of  August  we  were  again  in  Melbourne  and 
were  guests  at  a  luncheon  given  in  the  State  Parliament 
House  by  Senator  Fraser  and  Honourable  James  Balfour. 
Among  the  guests  were  the  Premier,  the  Speaker  of  the 
House,  the  Minister  of  Customs,  and  many  other  distin- 
guished citizens.  The  Premier  and  Senator  Fraser  made  the 
formal  addresses  to  which  Dr.  Chapman  gracefully  replied. 

The  two  farewells,  one  at  Melbourne  and  the  other  at 
Sydney,  were  phenomenal,  however  we  look  at  them.  The 
Chapman  mission  was  accustomed  to  great  audiences;  they 
had  almost  ceased  to  be  noted.  A  big  church,  every  seat 
occupied,  may  hold  fifteen  hundred.  A  city  auditorium 
should  seat  three  thousand  or  more.  That  had  been  the 
regular  thing  through  the  whole  campaign  of  an  hundred 
busy  days. 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  171 

But  when  Dr.  Chapman  faced  the  human  ocean  that 
confronted  him  at  the  "Farewell  Service"  at  Melbourne,  it 
brought  the  quiver  to  his  chin,  the  tears  to  his  eyes,  and  a 
long  silence  to  his  lips.  For  the  moment  it  seemed  as  if  he 
might  break  under  the  force  of  his  emotion.  Fifteen 
thousand,  sitting,  standing,  hanging  where  they  could, 
were  packed  in  that  great  Exhibition  Hall,  corridor, 
wings,  galleries,  to  the  lantern  in  the  dome.  Ten  thousand 
more  waited  outside.  But  there  came  to  him  a  strength,  a 
confidence  from  beyond  himself,  and  he  preached  a  mar- 
vellous sermon  on  the  text:  "I  have  not  shunned  to 
declare  unto  you  the  whole  counsel  of  God." 

We  went  directly  from  the  Hall  to  the  railway  station,  and 
the  whole  crowd  followed.  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alex- 
ander, with  the  Mayor,  rode  in  the  first  carriage.  Mr. 
Balfour,  member  of  the  Australian  Parliament,  rode  with 
me  in  the  second  coach.  As  we  came  to  the  foot  of  the  hill 
we  rose  and  looked  back.  It  was  a  thrilling  sight.  Collins 
Street,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  seemed  packed  with  a 
solid  mass  of  moving  humanity.  The  windows  and  bal- 
conies on  both  sides  of  the  broad  avenue  were  filled  with 
people  and  so  also  were  the  roofs  of  the  houses.  Flags  had 
been  unfurled  and  were  waving.  Bands  were  playing,  and 
over  all  was  heard  the  singular  music  of  mingled  human 
voices  as  *'the  sound  of  many  waters."  Mr.  Balfour  was 
profoundly  moved.  ''Even  the  Prince  of  Wales" — said 
he — "received  no  such  ovation  as  this;  and  yet" — he 
thoughtfully  added — "this  is  no  personal  tribute:  it  is  the 
grateful  expression  of  praise  to  Almighty  God  for  the 
blessing  that  has  come  to  Australia." 

The  station  platform  was  thronged  with  people.  Many 
of  them  were  in  tears.    Someone  started  a  hymn:  it  rose 


172     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

in  an  ever-swelling  volume  of  song.    As  the  train  rolled  out 
of  the  station,  we  heard  the  words  of  it: 

"God  be  with  you  till  we  meet  again! 
Keep  love's  banner  floating  o'er  you, 
Smite  death's  threat'ning  wave  before  you; 
God  be  with  you  till  we  meet  again!" 

Such  was  Melbourne's  farewell  to  Dr.  Chapman  and  his 
associates. 

On  the  following  day,  Tuesday  August  tenth,  we  were 
again  in  Sydney  for  the  farewell  service  there. 

A  state  luncheon  had  been  arranged  for  one  o'clock,  to 
which  many  came  in  response  to  an  engraved  card  of 
invitation  as  follows: 

The  Lord  Mayor  and  the  Lady  Mayoress  of  Sydney, 

Alderman  and  Mrs.  Allen  Taylor 

Request  the  honour  of 


company,  to  Luncheon  at  the  Town  Hall 

to  meet 

Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  and  Mr.  C.  M.  Alexander. 

10th  of  August,  at  one  o'clock. 

R.S.V.P. 

to  the  Town  Clerk. 

At  ten  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  eleventh,  occurred 
the  final  farewell  in  the  auditorium  of  the  Town  Hall.  The 
throng  was  not  so  great  as  at  Melbourne;  the  hour  was  early, 
the  available  space  was  smaller;  but  the  ardour  of  love  and 
faith  expressed  was  just  as  genuine,  and — here  let  the  em- 
phasis rest — thirty  men,  new  converts,  made  confession 
of  Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  Lord. 

At  the  close  of  the  service,  which,  perforce,  had  been 
limited  in  time,  a  drag  drawn  by  six  white  horses  conveyed 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  173 

the  party  to  the  steamship  wharf.  The  route  extended 
through  a  mile  of  waving  handkerchiefs  and  other  expres- 
sions of  good-will,  and,  with  gifts  of  flowers  and  fruits,  the 
drag  looked  more  like  a  freight-car  than  a  triumphal  chariot. 
We  boarded  the  Kumano  Maru,  The  order  was  given 
to  cast  off,  and  the  ship,  to  the  music  of  the  farewell  song, 
moved  majestically  down  the  harbour. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  ORIENT 

The  Kumano  Mam  docked  at  Brisbane  on  the  thirteenth 
of  August  on  which  day  the  Executive  Mission  Committee 
of  that  city  gave  to  the  party  a  farewell  dinner  at  which 
there  were  many  expressions  of  warm  and  tender  affection 
for  Dr.  Chapman  and  his  associates,  with  assurance  that 
the  mission  to  the  Orient  would  be  supported  by  the  prayer 
of  the  many  friends  left  behind  in  Australia. 

Three  days  later  the  steamer  arrived  at  Townsville  where 
no  previous  meetings  had  been  held.  A  local  Committee, 
consisting  of  Canon  Williams,  a  number  of  clergymen.  Major 
and  Mrs.  Ross,  and  Adjutant  Crawford,  had  prepared  a  pro- 
gramme for  the  eight  hours  the  steamer  was  to  remain  in 
port.  An  informal  breakfast  was  followed  by  a  meeting  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  for  church  workers  only,  after  which 
another  meeting  for  the  general  public  was  held  in  the  theatre. 

Townsville  lies  seven  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  of 
Brisbane  and  well  within  the  protection  of  the  Great  Barrier 
Reef,  that  stupendous  coral  construction,  dwarfing  all  others, 
which  runs  for  more  than  a  thousand  miles  along  the  north- 
eastern coast  of  the  Continent.  Over  this  protected  sea 
area  we  sailed  calmly  into  Torres  Strait  about  eighty  miles 
wide,  between  the  sharp  point  of  Cape  York  and  the  Island 
of  Papua.  With  marvellous  skill  the  steamer  was  guided 
over  a  course  threatened  by  innumerable  rocks  and  shoals, 
and  Dr.  Chapman  often  thereafter  spoke  of  it  to  illustrate 

174 


THE  ORIENT  175 

the  manner  in  which  a  greater  Pilot  guides  the  soul  through 
dangers  that  threaten  our  mortal  life. 

On  the  morning  of  the  nineteenth  we  lay  just  outside  the 
Cape  off  Thursday  Island.  Among  the  passengers  on  the 
Kumano  Maru  was  a  Dr.  Mackensie,  the  Mayor  of  the  city 
where  we  were  to  spend  a  few  hours.  Dr.  Mackensie  was 
enthusiastic  about  the  mission  and  earnestly  pressed  Dr. 
Chapman  to  hold  a  service.  To  this  he  agreed,  and  the 
Mayor  wired  ahead  so  that  on  our  arrival  an  audience  was 
waiting  in  the  Town  Hall  where  an  impressive  and  fruitful 
service  was  held. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  we  cleared  for  the  cruise 
of  seven  days  to  Manila.  The  course  was  northwest 
through  the  Arafura  and  Banda  seas  with  their  indetermin- 
able number  of  islands,  where  we  were  seldom  out  of  sight 
of  one  to  five  of  them,  until  we  had  gained  the  Molucca 
Pass  where,  veering  to  the  west  several  points,  we  were  soon 
out  upon  the  vast,  unoccupied  waters  of  Celebes  Sea. 

On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-sixth  we  saw,  on  our  star- 
board bow,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  floating  over  their  newly 
acquired  domain.  We  were  approaching  the  southwestern 
headland  of  Mindanao,  and  in  a  few  hours  we  were  in  the 
United  States  waters  of  the  Mindoro  Sea.  The  ship  took 
the  Verde  Island  passage  with  Calapan  on  the  left,  and 
in  the  evening  of  the  same  day  we  passed  in  close  to  Mara- 
gondong,  with  Corregidor  in  full  view  on  the  left,  and  so 
stood  up  the  great  Bay  of  Manila.  With  a  thrill  we  re- 
membered Dewey's  squadron  sailing  over  the  same  channel, 
paying  its  pertinent  respects  to  the  ships  of  Spain  asleep 
behind  Cavite  in  Bacoor  Bay.  What  a  blow  also  to  German 
pride  when  a  solid  shot  passed  over  the  bows  of  von  Diede- 
rich's  flagship  and  so  accelerated  his  departure! 


176     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Personal  work  unobtmsive  and  yet  effective  had  been 
carried  on  among  the  ship's  crew  and  passengers  during  the 
whole  cruise.  One  hopeful  convert  was  a  Russian  student 
returning  from  the  University  of  Sydney  to  his  home  in 
Vladivostok.  Another  was  a  German  Catholic  en  route  to 
China  who  had  never  seen  the  Bible  but  was  induced  to 
join  the  Pocket  Testament  League  and  confessed  conversion. 
Services  were  held  each  day  at  ten  in  the  morning  and  at- 
tended generally  by  all  the  passengers. 

Only  one  day  could  be  spent  at  Manila,  but  it  was  a  day 
of  intense  activity  as  may  be  seen  from  the  following 
schedule  arranged  by  the  Rev.  George  W.  Wright,  D.D., 
Dean  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  the  Philippines 
and  Chairman  of  the  Reception  Committee: 

Daylight:        Arrival  of  party  in  Bay:    S.  S.  Kumano  Maru. 
7:00  A.  M.:    Launch  leaves  Legaspi  Landing  with  Committee. 
8:00  A.  M.:    Party  lands  and  takes  automobile  for  tour  of  city. 
9:00  A.  M.:    At  Ayuntamiento:    Call  of  ceremony  upon   Com- 
missioner Gilbert,  Acting  Governor  General. 
10:00  a.m.:    Conference  with  clergy  and  ^Christian  workers— all 

denominations. 
12:00   m.:       Noon  meeting  for  men.    Empire  Theatre. 
1:15  p.  M.:     Qwill-Club  luncheon.    Metropolitan   Hotel.     Judge 
Gilbert  will  welcome  the  party  in  behalf  of  the 
Government    and    citizens    of    Manila.    Doctor 
Chapman,   Mr.  Alexander,  and   Doctor    Ottman 
will  respond.      The  ladies  of  the  party  will  be 
entertained  at  luncheon  by  the  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sion ladies. 
3:30  P.  M.:     Presbyterian  Church,  Calle  Padre  Faura,  Chapman- 
Alexander  Mission. 
6:45  P.  M.:     Fort  William  McKinley,  New  Y.M.C.A.  Building. 
8:30  P.  M.:     Y.M.C.A.  Hall,  Calle  Concepcion. 
9:45  P.  M.r     For  Filipino  Congregation  in   the   Tondo   Presby- 
terian Church,  Calle  Azcarraga. 
11 :00  P.  M, :     Launch  at  Legaspi  Landing,  taking  party  back  to  ship. 


THE  ORIENT  177 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  noted  that  Dr.  Wright  had 
filled  full  every  fragment  of  sixteen  solid  hours. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Asher  had  preceded  the  party  to  the  Philip- 
pines by  a  full  month  and,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  had 
carried  on  a  very  successful  evangelistic  campaign. 

Concerning  their  work  we  read,  on  the  morning  of  our 
arrival  in  Manila,  in  one  of  the  newspapers,  an  expression 
of  appreciation  as  follows: 

When  the  Chapman-Alexander  party  leaves  here,  they  will  take 
with  them  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Asher,  whom  so  many  Manila  people 
have  come  to  know  and  love  during  the  past  four  weeks.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Asher  have  been  doing  very  quietly  a  gracious  work  and  they 
leave  their  memory  in  many  hearts.  They  have  brought  out  the 
soldiers  of  Fort  McKinley  by  their  message  in  speech  and  song,  week 
after  week,  as  no  other  ministry  among  them  has  ever  done.  So,  too, 
have  they  wrought  among  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  Olongapo,  Cavite, 
and  Camp  Stotsenburg,  which  places  they  have  visited  with  their  little 
organ,  Mr.  Asher  preaching  and  Mrs.  Asher  singing  the  gospel  into 
the  hearts  of  their  hearers. 

They  have  also  held  their  services  at  Billibid  Prison  and  at  the  Fort 
McKinley  Prison,  and  twice  to  three  times  each  week  they  have  been 
with  the  American  congregations.  The  Filipino  students  in  the 
various  mission  schools  are  singing  their  songs,  and  will  continue  to 
sing  "God  will  take  care  of  you"  long  after  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Asher  have 
gone.  The  visits  to  the  various  schools  will  never  be  forgotten  by  the 
Filipino  young  men  and  young  women. 

Manila  speaks  regretful  but  loving  farewell  to  the  Ashers  and  bids 
them  godspeed  in  the  gracious  work  to  which  they  are  faithfully  de- 
voting their  lives. 

Miss  Clyde  Bartholomew,  principal  of  the  Ellinwood 
Girls'  School  at  Manila,  speaks  of  the  disappointment  in 
Manila  because  the  Chapman  party  could  spend  only  one 
day  in  that  city.    She  writes: 

As  I  remember  the  day  they  came  ashore  about  nine  o'clock  and  had 
an  informal  reception  with  pastors  and  Y.M.C.A.  workers,  and 


178     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

missionaries  of  the  city  and  all  who  were  near  enough  to  attend,  and 
Doctor  Chapman  gave  us  a  most  inspiring  address. 

Then  they  were  taken  in  automobiles  to  the  principal  points  of 
interest  in  the  city,  and  at  noon  the  ladies  of  the  party  had  luncheon 
at  Mrs.  Rodgers'  with  the  ladies  of  the  Mission,  and  the  men  of  the 
Chapman  party  had  luncheon  at  a  big  business  men's  luncheon  which 
Doctor  Chapman  addressed.  In  the  afternoon  he  spoke  in  the  Ameri- 
can Presbyterian  Church  to  a  meeting  of  the  Christians  of  all  de- 
nominations, and  his  daughter  and  Mrs.  Alexander  and  other  ladies 
of  the  party  visited  the  hat  and  embroidery  shops.  I  do  not  re- 
member where  they  had  dinner,  but  sometime  either  morning  or 
afternoon,  I  think  Doctor  Chapman  gave  two  more  short  talks  to 
students  at  schools.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  big  mass  meeting  of 
Americans  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  gymnasium,  which  was  packed  to  over- 
flowing, Mr.  Alexander,  of  course,  leading  the  singing,  and  Doctor 
Chapman  preached  a  sermon  which  I  shall  never  forget,  from  the  text 
in  Exodus  28:35,  on  the  ringing  of  the  golden  bells  on  the  robe  of  the 
High  Priest  as  he  went  in  to  the  Holy  of  Holies,  which  indicated  to  the 
waiting  worshippers  outside  that  they  and  the  priest  who  bore  their 
offering  were  accepted  of  God.  Beginning  with  the  offering  of  Christ 
on  Calvary,  he  gave  four  or  five  illustrations  of  what  it  means  to  make 
life  day  by  day  acceptable  to  God,  and  ended  each  illustration  with  the 
words,  "I  hear  the  ringing  of  the  golden  bells."  In  the  years  since  I 
have  heard  people  refer  again  and  again  to  that  sermon. 

Doctor  Chapman  and  some  of  the  party  left  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  im- 
mediately after  the  address  and  went  to  a  big  union  meeting  of 
Filipino  congregations  at  the  Tondo  Presbyterian  Church,  where  he 
spoke  again  through  an  interpreter.  By  that  time  it  was  ten  o'clock 
and  the  party  went  directly  to  the  steamer.  I  heard  one  of  them  say 
that  Doctor  Chapman  had  spoken  eight  times  during  the  day,  but  I 
do  not  know  about  all  of  them.  I  was  one  of  those  who  accompanied 
them  in  the  launch  out  to  the  steamer  and  I  remember  how  Doctor 
Chapman  sat  in  his  chair  on  the  launch,  with  his  head  bowed,  the 
picture  of  exhaustion— and  how  careful  the  others  were  to  see  that  he 
was  not  disturbed  on  the  way.  Everyone  was  tired  out,  and  they 
must  have  been  thankful  to  have  the  day  over,  but  it  had  been  a  day 
of  great  inspiration  and  help  to  the  people  of  Manila. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  compare  this  account  by  Miss 
Bartholomew  with  a  letter  written  by  Dr.  Chapman, 
August  twenty-eighth,  while  en  route  to  China: 


THE  ORIENT  179 

We  arrived  in  Manila  early  in  the  morning  of  August  27th.  We  had 
been  suffering  with  the  heat  in  a  most  unusual  manner.  It  had  quite 
seriously  affected  me  and  caused  my  head  to  ache  most  painfullyi 
especially  at  the  base  of  my  brain,  if  indeed  I  have  a  brain  after  all 
these  weeks  of  almost  ceaseless  labour.  But  the  heat  of  the  Equator 
was  nothing  to  the  insufferable  heat  of  Manila.  They  say  that  it  was 
most  unusual,  but  whether  that  be  true  or  not  it  was  my  most  re- 
markable experience  in  facing  heat  conditions. 

The  Committee  had  arranged  a  full  day's  programme  for  me  and  the 
experience  of  the  day  was  positively  painful.  By  the  time  the  middle 
of  the  day  was  reached  I  did  not  see  how  it  was  possible  for  me  to  go 
through  another  hour  of  the  heat  and  certainly  face  another  one  of  the 
many  services  which  were  still  ahead  of  me;  but  Manila  itself  is  most 
charming.  A  committee  of  the  ministers  waited  upon  us  by  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  coming  out  in  a  boat  to  where  we  had  anchored 
with  a  special  Government  launch  to  take  us  back  to  the  shore.  The 
Governor  of  the  Philippine  Islands  was  away,  but  he  had  left  a  special 
and  official  greeting  for  us  which  was  as  follows: 

"office  of  the  governor-general 

OF  the  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS 

Manila,  August  20, 1909. 
*'Rev.  George  Wright, 

"46  Calle  Wright,  Malate, 
"Manila. 
!*Dear  Sir: 

"By  direction  of  His  Excellency  the  Acting  Governor-General  I 
enclose  herewith  a  letter  of  welcome  to  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  and 
his  party. 

"Respectfully, 

"E.  BowDiTCH,  Jr., 
"Private  Secretary." 

OFFICE  OF  THE  GOVERNOR-GENERAL 
OF  THE  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS. 

August  19,  1909. 
"Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman, 

"Manila,  P.  I. 

"My  dear  Sir: 

"It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  welcome  you,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles 

M.  Alexander,  Dr.  Ford  C.  Ottman,  and  the  other  members  of  your 


180     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

party  to  these  Islands.  I  very  much  regret  that  my  forced  absence 
from  the  city  on  my  trip  to  the  Southern  Islands  will  prevent  my 
presence  at  your  meetings  on  August  twenty-seventh.  Permit  me  to 
express  my  appreciation  of  this  visit,  and  to  extend  to  you  my  best 
wishes  for  the  success  of  the  work  in  which  you  are  engaged. 

"Very  sincerely  yours, 
"W.  Cameron  Forbes, 
"Acting  Governor-General." 

When  we  reached  the  shore  a  number  of  automobiles  were  waiting 
for  us  and  we  were  taken  up  to  a  restaurant  kept  by  an  American,  and 
for  the  first  time  we  tasted  what  seemed  a  little  like  home  food. 

The  streets  are  narrow  like  all  of  the  rest  of  the  oriental  cities,  and 
they  were  thronged  with  people;  but  you  would  be  amazed  to  see  how 
clean  everything  is.  The  sanitary  conditions  are  almost  perfect  and 
the  general  air  of  thrift  everywhere  was  most  amazing.  From  the 
walled  city  we  made  our  way  to  the  office  of  the  Governor  where  we 
were  welcomed  by  the  representative  of  the  Governor,  the  Honourable 
Newton  W.  Gilbert,  a  Hoosier  by  birth,  a  former  member  of  Congress 
from  Fort  Wayne  and  now  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the 
Philippine  Islands.  He  was  a  most  charming  man  and  paid  us  every 
attention.  He  invited  us  to  his  house  in  the  afternoon  and  we  were 
fascinated  with  his  home.  It  is  built  upon  the  shore  of  the  bay,  and 
looks  off  toward  Cavite  where  Admiral  Dewey  defeated  the  Spanish 
fleet.  The  house  was  owned  by  a  distinguished  Filipino,  who  so 
confidently  expected  the  Americans  to  be  defeated  in  the  battle  that 
when  the  tide  turned  against  his  people  he  left  his  house  determined 
never  to  live  in  it  again.  While  now  he  is  a  friend  of  the  Governor  he 
still  holds  to  his  resolution. 

We  visited  a  great  native  Methodist  Church,  capable  of  holding 
twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  people,  where  we  addressed  the  students 
of  the  various  denominational  schools  and  the  theological  seminaries. 
The  pastor  of  this  Church  was  a  remarkable  man.  He  was  a  Catholic 
and  owned  three  cockpits.  Cock  fighting  in  Manila  has  a  most  bane- 
ful influence.  One  of  the  Methodist  missionaries  dealt  with  this  man 
several  years  ago,  gave  him  three  texts  of  Scripture  which  he  promised 
to  read,  and  weeks  after  the  Filipino  came  rushing  up  to  the  mission- 
ary's house  saying — "I  have  found  Christ."  He  is  a  man  of  con- 
siderable means  and  a  really  successful  preacher.  We  visited  the 
bridge  where  the  first  shot  was  fired  in  the  insurrection  movement. 
Aguinaldo,  the  leader  of  the  insurrection,  lives  at  Cavite  quietly,  is 
generally  respected,  and  has  no  desire  to  dictate  regarding  the  govern- 


THE  ORIENT  181 

ment.  I  met  the  Filipino  who  served  as  his  Secretary  of  State  in  the 
insurgent  government.  He  is  a  Presbyterian  Church  officer  and  a 
most  interesting  man.  Our  second  service  was  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  for 
missionaries  and  Christian  workers.  The  missionaries  had  come  in 
from  the  various  provinces.  Bishop  Brent  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
was  in  the  audience.  Doctor  Rossiter  of  the  American  Church  was 
also  by  my  side.  The  service  was  to  me  at  least  highly  gratifying. 
At  mid-day  I  spoke  in  the  theatre  to  men  only.  The  audience,  they 
say,  was  the  largest  audience  of  men  ever  assembled  at  Manila. 
The  Hon.  Judge  Gilbert  presided.  Then  we  were  given  a  reception 
and  luncheon  by  the  Quill  Club.  The  presiding  officer  of  this  ban- 
quet was  the  Rev.  George  W.  Wright,  one  of  the  most  influential  men 
in  all  the  Island,  formerly  Doctor  McAfee's  assistant  in  Chicago. 
Everybody  loves  him,  and  his  influence  in  the  Island  is  truly  re- 
markable. From  the  Quill  Club  we  made  our  way  to  the  afternoon 
service  in  Doctor  Rossiter's  Church.  His  church  is  most  beautiful. 
It  has  a  great  roof  garden  where  the  evening  services  are  held,  and 
Doctor  Rossiter  is  making  his  influence  felt  for  good  in  Manila. 

After  the  reception  given  to  us  by  Judge  Gilbert  at  his  beautiful 
home  we  were  driven  in  the  midst  of  a  great  storm  to  Fort  McKinley. 
There  are  hundreds  of  soldiers  there.  We  were  just  in  time  to  see  the 
cavalry  drill,  which  was  really  very  fine,  and  then  our  service  was 
held  in  the  splendid  Y.  M.  C.  A.  given  to  the  soldiers  by  Mrs.  Russell 
Sage.  It  is  really  one  of  the  finest  buildings  I  have  ever  seen  for  this 
work.  The  Secretaries,  Messrs.  Carrington  and  Blazier,  are  rendering 
a  magnificent  service  and  I  was  charmed  with  them.  Then  came  our 
two  closing  services,  one  at  half-past  eight  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at 
Manila,  which  is  also  a  new  building,  and  again  we  had  the  privilege  of 
holding  the  first  service  in  this  splendid  auditorium.  The  storm  that 
was  raging  was  something  awful.  The  room  was  well  filled  and  I  felt 
the  service  impressive;  and  then  we  made  our  way  to  our  eighth  and 
last  service  for  the  day.  It  was  in  the  Filipino  Presbyterian  Church 
where  Mr.  Alexander  led  the  singing  and  where  I  spoke  through  an 
interpreter  on  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved."  Mr.  Alexander's  in- 
fluence throughout  the  day  was  great.  Mr.  Davis  spoke  of  the  Pocket 
Testament  League  and  was  enthusiastically  received.  By  the  way,  we 
distributed  85,000  Testaments  in  Australia,  giving  them  to  people  who 
agreed  to  carry  the  Testament  given  them  and  read  a  chapter  a  day. 

The  Filipinos  are  most  interesting  people.  I  think  that  the 
missionary  work  is  highly  successful.  Certainly  the  missionaries  im- 
pressed me  as  being  devoted,  consecrated  men  and  women.    Our  Mr. 


182     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Rodgers  is  the  veteran  missionary  of  the  Island  and  his  influence  is 
truly  remarkable.  His  work  is  entirely  with  the  native  population, 
and  only  Eternity  can  reveal  the  extent  of  his  work. 

So  the  day  closed  at  Manila.  The  experience  was  fascinating,  and 
in  spite  of  the  eight  services  and  the  very  extreme  heat,  and  the  fact 
that  I  was  and  am  now  almost  completely  exhausted  because  of  it,  the 
day  is  one  I  shall  long  remember.  I  shall  remember  it  because  of  the 
charming  people  I  met.  They  were  not  a  homesick  people,  but  a 
company  of  men  and  women  delighting  in  what  they  called  a  great 
climate  throughout  the  year,  and  a  most  beautiful  place  to  live.  I 
shall  remember  it  because  Manila  is  the  most  perfect  illustration  of 
ancient  and  modern  history  I  have  ever  seen  and  the  best  representa- 
tion of  all  mediaeval  times. 

This  one  memorable  day  was  a  premonstration  of  the 
mission  to  the  Orient. 

The  Secretaries  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  and 
Dr.  Stanley  White,  had  sent  a  circular  letter  to  the  Philip- 
pine, North  and  South  China,  and  the  East  and  West  Shan- 
tung missions,  and  to  the  mission  stations  in  Korea  and 
Japan,  informing  them  of  Dr.  Chapman's  visit  and  of  the 
approximate  day  of  his  arrival.  With  the  way  so  opened 
he  looked  forward  with  delight  to  the  possibilities  of  the  field 
before  him. 

Stupendous  changes  have  passed  over  China  in  the  decade 
since  Dr.  Chapman  landed  in  Hongkong.  Others  still 
greater  seem  to  be  impending,  but  any  record  of  these  is  be- 
yond the  scope  of  this  narrative.  We  shall  attempt  only 
to  record  briefly  some  of  the  impressions  made  upon  Dr. 
Chapman  by  this  awakening  giant  and  its  restless  neighbours 
Korea  and  Japan. 

Our  steamer  came  to  anchor  in  the  harbour  of  Hongkong 
— ^an  island,  not  a  city — on  Monday,  August  thirtieth,  1909. 
The  island  lies  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chu-Kiang,  or  Pearl 


THE  ORIENT  183 

River,  ninety-one  miles  from  Canton.  In  1841  it  was  wrested 
by  the  English  from  the  Chinese  Empire,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  the  five  ports  of  Hongkong,  Shanghai,  Fuchow, 
Amoy,  and  Ningpo  were  open  to  trade,  with  an  indemnity 
of  twenty-one  million  dollars  levied  by  the  English  Govern- 
ment. By  subsequent  treaties  the  United  States  and 
France  obtained  the  toleration  of  Christianity,  and  all  prior 
edicts  of  persecution  were  rescinded.  Hongkong,  when  we 
were  there,  was  ruled  by  a  legislative  council  and  a  gov- 
ernor, with  offices  at  Victoria,  the  principal  city.  The  city 
lies  opposite  to  Kowloon  and  extends  about  four  miles  along 
the  shore,  with  fine  streets,  gas,  electric  lights,  and  trolleys. 
The  bulk  of  the  population  of  the  island  resides  within  its 
precincts.  The  new  dock,  the  largest  in  the  Empire  outside 
of  England,  seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven  feet  long  and 
between  seventy  and  eighty  feet  wide,  was  built  the  year 
before  Dr.  Chapman's  arrival.  On  the  island  there  are 
seventy-five  schools,  under  government  supervision  and  aid, 
with  something  over  six  thousand  students.  In  addition 
to  these  there  are  three  hundred  unaided  schools  with  more 
than  ten  thousand  students.  The  University  has  been 
opened  since  Dr.  Chapman's  visit. 

The  harbour,  one  of  the  very  few  that  by  experts  has  been 
called  perfect,  has  an  area  of  ten  square  miles  and,  with  its 
floating  population,  presents  a  curious  and  alluring  picture 
to  all  visitors.  Close  up  against  the  business  section  of  the 
city  rises  the  mountainous  mass  known  as  The  Peak,  and 
up  its  sides,  in  finely  engineered  terraces,  are  scattered  the 
many  palatial  homes  of  the  port.  The  upper  acclivities 
of  The  Peak  command  a  comprehensive  view,  embracing 
the  enterprising  city,  the  harbour  with  its  bays  and  capes, 
and  the  encircling  mountains  where  the  Melingand  Tayuling 


184     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

ranges  meet  at  a  sharp  angle  and  throw  their  several  spurs 
to  the  very  ocean  edge  back  of  Kowloon. 

The  city  had  a  population  of  something  more  than  four 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  about  twelve  thousand  of  whom 
were  non-Chinese.  About  fifty-four  thousand  of  the  natives 
dwell  in  boats. 

Dr.  Chapman,  in  a  letter  dated  September  first,  the 
second  day  after  his  arrival  in  Hongkong,  wrote  as  follows: 

We  arrived  in  Hongkong  the  thirtieth  of  August.  Our  good  weather 
continued  with  us  all  the  way.  The  purser  of  our  boat,  the  Kumano 
Maru,  told  me  he  had  crossed  the  China  Sea  eighteen  times,  and  only 
once  before  had  he  seen  the  sea  so  quiet.    It  is  always  rough. 

The  entrance  to  the  Hongkong  Harbour  is  simply  beautiful.  Hong- 
kong is  an  island  and  the  city  is  called  Victoria.  The  island  is  entirely 
mountainous,  and  while  the  shores  are  given  up  to  the  Chinese  houses, 
except  the  business  centre,  the  most  magnificent  residences  you  could 
imagine  are  found  all  the  way  up  the  mountain  side  to  what  is  known 
as  The  Peak. 

Mr.  Alexander  is  stopping  at  the  Peak  Hotel  which  is  at  the  summit 
of  the  mountain.  We  did  not  go  up  there  because  there  is  a  finer 
hotel  in  the  city  called  the  Hongkong,  and  we  thought  for  the  few 
days  we  were  here  we  ought  to  be  in  the  midst  of  everything.  We 
went  up,  however,  the  other  evening  for  dinner,  and  the  coolies 
carried  us  in  the  sedan  chairs  around  through  the  most  beautiful 
drives  I  have  ever  seen.  The  houses  are  palatial,  the  foliage  is  simply 
perfect;  the  flowers  are  more  profuse  even  than  in  southern  California 
or  in  Florida,  and  altogether  it  was  about  as  near  dreamland  or  fairy- 
land as  anything  I  have  ever  seen.  Hongkong  is  in  every  way  the 
most  fascinating  city  in  the  world  I  think.  I  always  thought  that 
Cairo  should  have  this  distinction,  but  Hongkong  is  far  beyond  it. 
The  business  houses  where  business  is  conducted  by  the  Europeans  are 
quite  as  imposing  as  those  found  in  New  York.  The  streets  are 
narrow  and  literally  thronged  with  people.  I  have  only  seen  three 
horses  since  my  arrival.  The  coolies  do  all  the  work  of  the  horses. 
They  drag  heavy  loads  through  the  streets  on  trucks.  I  saw  six  of 
them  this  morning  driving  a  great  rice  wagon.  They  carry  the  sedan 
chairs,  and  they  wheel  the  jinrikshas.  We  have  travelled  in  both  the 
chairs  and  the  jinrikshas,  and  they  are  most  charming  and  interesting. 


THE  ORIENT  185 

The  Botanical  Gardens  surpass  anything  we  saw  in  Australia,  and  this 
morning  we  went  up  through  what  is  known  as  Happy  Valley,  and 
it  positively  exhausts  one's  adjectives  in  description.  But  when 
you  have  said  all  these  things  you  must  say  that  the  heat  is  something 
that  cannot  be  described  in  words.  Manila  was  a  nice  cool  place  to 
Hongkong.  You  cannot  move  without  the  perspiration  starting 
from  every  pore  of  your  body.  It  is  as  hot  at  night  as  in  the  day,  and 
both  mornings  I  have  waked  up  perfectly  dripping  with  perspiration. 

The  Chinese  population,  typical  of  the  great  communities 
found  scattered  throughout  the  provinces,  is  densely  con- 
gested in  streets  narrow  and  filthy,  bedecked  with  gorgeous 
banners  instinct  with  all  kinds  of  diabolical  characters  that 
must  tax  even  the  ingenuity  of  the  Chinese  to  decipher. 
The  Presbyterians  have  no  stations  at  Hongkong  and  all 
mission  work  is  under  the  direction  of  the  Angelican  Church. 
Non-preparation  and  lack  of  cooperation  proved  almost 
fatal  to  the  meetings  in  Victoria  and  less  time  was  spent 
there  than  had  been  originally  intended.  Fortunately  the 
few  services  held  in  Hongkong  were  conducted  in  English. 
Dr.  Chapman  with  all  his  rare  gifts  was  without  ability 
to  proclaim  the  Gospel  in  the  Chinese  tongue,  or  to  interpret 
those  singular  characters  by  which  the  Chinese  endeavour 
to  transmit  their  thought. 

On  the  evening  of  Thursday,  September  second,  we  took 
the  steamer  Paul  Beau  for  Canton  arriving  there  the  next 
morning.  This  is  distinctively  a  Chinese  city,  the  capital 
of  Kwangtung,  and,  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  the  residence 
of  the  viceroy.  The  city  had  a  population  of  something  more 
than  a  million  and  a  quarter,  an  immense  number  of  them 
living  in  the  boats  that  swarm  the  river.  The  city  is  en- 
circled by  a  wall  six  miles  long,  thirty  feet  wide,  and  forty 
feet  high. 

Missionary  activities  began  in  Kwangtung,  extending 


186     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

then  to  the  coast  provinces,  and  finally  to  the  interior.  Dr. 
Robert  Morrison,  the  pioneer  missionary  to  China,  began 
his  work  in  Canton  in  the  year  1807.  In  the  year  of  his 
death,  1834,  Dr.  Peter  Parker  of  the  American  Board  ar- 
rived in  Canton,  and  during  the  following  year  opened  the 
first  missionary  hospital  in  China. 

We  remained  but  one  day  in  Canton,  visiting  the  medical 
college,  the  city  day  schools,  the  school  for  the  blind,  and 
other  points  of  interest.  We  were  entertained  in  Shameen 
by  the  American  official  representatives  who  gave  us  an 
afternoon  tea.  This  was  the  beginning  of  our  tea  drinking 
which  through  indeclinable  invitations  we  continued  until 
we  were  saturated. 

In  Canton  Dr.  Chapman  apprehended  in  some  reality 
the  complex  problem  of  Foreign  Missions.  Think  of  a 
country  having  more  than  four  hundred  million  inhabitants, 
with  no  national  solidarity;  divided  into  independent  and 
unrelated  provinces,  each  having  its  own  dialect,  and  in 
other  ways  distinctive  and  different! 

On  his  return  that  night  to  Hongkong,  which  is  not  unlike 
a  trip  on  the  Hudson  from  Albany  to  New  York,  Dr.  Chap- 
man thought  with  misgiving  of  an  evangelistic  appeal 
through  an  interpreter.  With  no  little  foreboding  he 
boarded  the  Empress  of  China  to  sail  for  Shanghai. 

At  Hongkong  Miss  Beatrice  Cadbury,  a  sister  of  Mrs. 
Alexander,  joined  the  party.  Mr.  Dickson,  Mr.  Naftzger, 
Mr.  Bookmyer,  and  Miss  Breckenridge  had  returned  to 
America  direct  from  Australia.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Asher  were 
to  proceed  to  Yokohama  and  thence  by  the  Suez  Canal  to 
England.  Agnes,  Dr.  Chapman's  daughter,  went  to  Yoko- 
hama, where  she  was  to  remain  with  her  aunt,  Miss  Helen 
Strain,  until  the  arrival  of  her  father. 


THE  ORIENT  187 

We  reached  Shanghai  on  the  afternoon  of  the  seventh 
of  September.  Following  the  Taiping  Rebellion,  Shanghai 
had  become  the  emporium  for  Central  China.  When  the 
English  gunboats  had  driven  the  Taipings  from  all  the  lower 
Yangtse  valleys  the  Chinese  refugees  then — and  for  ten 
years  afterward — swarmed  from  the  desolated  provinces 
into  Shanghai.  There  also  the  Hong  merchants  established 
their  executive  branches,  the  English  built  great  docks  and 
wharves,  and  the  harbour  became  filled  with  massive  freight- 
ers; junks  giving  way  to  steam-propelled  lighters,  and  sam- 
pans to  launches.  The  dredging  of  the  Yangtse  opened 
to  active  commerce  great  cities  like  Nanking,  Wuchang, 
Hankow,  and  others  built  along  her  mighty  reaches  naviga- 
ble for  some  fifteen  hundred  miles  beyond  Hankow. 

The  bund,  or  river  front  at  Shanghai,  is  a  modem  boule- 
vard well  paved.  The  streets  meeting  the  bund  at  right 
angles  are  named  after  the  cities  of  China;  those  running 
parallel  to  it  are  called  after  the  names  of  provinces.  Shang- 
hai is  not  located — as  is  commonly  assumed — at  the  mouth 
of  the  Yangtse,  but  upon  the  north  bank  of  the  Hwangpu, 
twelve  miles  from  its  entrance  into  the  south  branch  of  the 
Yangtse  delta.  The  city  itself  stands  at  a  point  where  the 
Hwangpu  widens  into  a  tidal  basin  forming  a  broad,  land- 
locked harbour. 

On  his  arrival  at  the  Astor  House  Hotel  Dr.  Chapman 
was  assured  that  careful  preparations  had  been  made  for 
his  services.  Various  auditoriums  had  been  engaged  and 
the  time  and  place  of  meetings  thoroughly  advertised  in  the 
daily  papers.  Posters  were  everywhere  to  be  seen.  These 
were  in  large  display  type  on  fences,  walls,  bulletin  boards, 
fronts  and  rears  of  trolley  cars,  and  in  every  other  place 
where  a  sign  would  be  likely  to  attract  attention.    The 


188     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

information  conveyed  by  them  was  through  the  medium  of 
Chinese  characters  that  to  us  were  as  inscrutable  as  the  text 
on  a  tea  box. 

The  central  meetings  were  held  in  the  Martyrs  Memorial 
Hall,  Szechuen  Road,  from  the  eighth  to  the  sixteenth  of 
September  inclusive.  The  main  meeting  was  held  at  nine 
o'clock  at  night  in  order  to  escape  the  terrific  heat  of  the 
day.  China,  whatever  it  may  be  now  or  at  other  times, 
was  when  we  were  there  a  nearer  approach  to  tophet  than 
we  had  conceived  any  other  place  could  be.  The  windows 
of  the  Astor  House  were  without  shades,  and  if  it  was  your 
misfortune  to  have  one  that  looked  toward  the  east,  you 
would  be  awakened  in  the  morning  by  the  first  rays  of  the 
sun  pounding  like  a  trip-hammer  upon  your  forehead .  Not- 
withstanding the  intense  heat  of  the  day,  the  nights  were 
comparatively  cool  and  these  night  meetings  were  crowded. 

Other  services  were  held  in  the  Union  Church,  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Chinese  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  London  Mission 
Chapel  at  Shantung  Road,  and  the  Shanghai  Free  Christian 
Mission  Church.  Some  of  these  meetings  were  for  Chinese, 
and  to  them  Dr.  Chapman  preached  through  an  interpreter. 
No  audiences  anywhere  were  more  attentive,  reverent,  and 
responsive.  Sentence  by  sentence  Dr.  Chapman  would 
speak,  and  sentence  by  sentence  the  interpreter  would  con- 
vey in  another  vehicle  what  in  English  he  had  said  to  the 
Chinese.  In  his  simple,  direct  fashion,  he  represented  the 
Gospel  message,  illustrating  it  in  his  usual  manner,  and  mak- 
ing the  same  plea  as  if  he  WBre  speaking  to  an  English  au- 
dience.   The  response  was  as  immediate  and  as  general. 

While  in  Shanghai  we  were  the  guests  at  breakfast  of  the 
Honourable  Charles  W.  Fairbanks  who  with  his  wife  was 
travelling  through  China.    Mr.  Fairbanks,  a  native  of 


THE  ORIENT  189 

Indiana,  had  for  years  known  Dr.  Chapman  and  was  de- 
Hghted  to  meet  him  in  this  far-away  land. 

We  were  also  the  guests  of  Mr.  D.  E.  Hoste,  General 
Director  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  whose  headquarters 
were  at  Shanghai.  The  central  building  is  very  commodi- 
ous, one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  front,  in  classic  elegance 
of  style,  having  an  almost  accentuated  Chinese  pavilion — 
we  had  almost  said  pagoda — as  its  one  ornamental  conces- 
sion to  China's  artistic  taste.  Mr.  Hoste  and  other  mis- 
sionaries from  that  compound  were  regular  in  their  attend- 
ance at  the  meetings  and  encouraged  Dr.  Chapman  by 
cordial  words  of  appreciation. 

An  interesting  afternoon  was  spent  at  the  Margaret 
Williamson  Hospital.  Many  memories  were  awakened 
when  we  visited  the  little  house  long  ago  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Mary  Putnam  Prujm,  the  great  grandmother  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  Dr.  Chapman's  son,  who  was  in  direct  descent 
from  that  consecrated  woman. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  September  we  left  Shanghai  for 
Nanking.  This  trip  was  over  the  first  railroad  built  in 
China.  A  delegation  of  missionaries  came  to  the  station 
to  bid  Dr.  Chapman  farewell  and  to  assure  him  that  his 
ministry  had  been  to  them  of  the  deepest  blessing. 

A  group  of  American  missionaries  were  at  Soochow,  the 
silk  metropolis  of  the  Orient,  to  greet  the  party  as  it  passed 
en  route  to  Nanking. 

Nanking  was  formerly  the  capital  of  China  and  is  situated 
on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Yangtse  two  hundred  miles 
from  Shanghai.  If  the  records  of  the  Chinese  antiquarians 
are  correct  it  must  at  one  time  have  been  a  magnificent 
city.  The  walls — so  they  state — were  thirty  feet  thick, 
seventy  feet  high,  and  twenty  miles  in  the  circuit  of  three 


190     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

sides,  the  fourth  side  being  defended  by  the  river.  The 
area  so  described  was  about  fifty  square  miles,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  four  million  people.  Here  was  the  Emperor's 
palace.  It  constituted  a  small  city  in  itself;  a  city  of  one- 
story  buildings,  but  grandly  spacious.  Within  was  work- 
manship of  the  most  elaborate  and  costly  kind.  There 
were  broad  courts,  with  plazas  between,  adorned  with 
groves  of  fragrant  myrtle,  sandalwood,  and  giant  palms. 
Here  also  once  stood  the  tower  built  by  the  Emperor 
Tungloh  as  a  tribute  to  the  virtues  of  his  mother,  inspired 
by  a  sentiment  as  honourable  to  him  a^  to  her.  Some  filial 
affection  still  abides  in  the  earth — traces  of  it  here  and 
there.  The  tower  is  worthy  to  be  written  in  the  category 
of  the  Wonders  of  the  World.  It  was  constructed  entirely 
of  the  finest  Chinese  porcelain,  very  rich  in  colouring,  three 
hundred  and  twenty-two  feet  in  height.  One  hundred  and 
forty-four  bronze  bells  tinkled  from  its  eight  facades  and 
about  as  many  lanterns  illumined  it  within  and  without. 
There  were  deposited  five  specific  pearls,  each  endowed  with 
power  against  the  elements:  fire,  wind,  water,  dust,  and 
darkness;  and  the  ultimate  apex  was  a  brazen  ball  heavily 
plated  with  purest  gold  "that,  undimmed,  it  might  shine 
forever." 

Here  also  are  located  the  world-renowned  tombs  of  the 
kings  of  the  Ming  dynasty — long  avenues  of  stone  memo- 
rials, massive,  elaborate,  grotesque — monuments  to  one  of 
the  thousands  of  fantastic  conceptions  of  the  untaught 
soul  concerning  death. 

The  history  of  the  Taiping  eruption  seems  more  and  more 
like  a  strange  and  weird  phantasm  as  it  glides  away  into  the 
shadows  of  an  incinerated  past.  It  began  with  a  man  who 
with  his  followers  professed  Christianity  and  became  ob- 


THE  ORIENT  191 

sessed  with  the  idea  that  they  had  been  called  of  God  to  de- 
stroy idolatry  in  China.  ''  But  their  deeds  " — says  Marshall 
Broomhall — "were  a  repetition  of  the  horrors  wrought  by 
Attila  and  Jenghis  Khan.  Several  Protestant  missionaries 
resided  for  longer  or  shorter  periods  in  the  camps  at  Nanking 
and  Soochow.  Amongst  these  were  Roberts — from  whom 
Siu-ts^uen,  the  rebel  leader,  first  heard  the  Gospel,  which 
had  such  an  unexpected  influence  on  his  life  and  through 
him  on  China — Griffith  John,  Muirhead,  and  Edkins. 
The  hopes  entertained  by  the  missionaries  that  the  rebel 
movement  would  become  a  great  moral  force  were  sadly 
disappointed,  and,  one  by  one,  they  withdrew  from  the 
Taiping  armies."  Nowhere  did  the  fanatical  fire  bum  with 
such  atrocious  conclusiveness  as  at  Nanking. 

When  the  Chapman-Alexander  Mission  reached  the  city 
it  was  far  different  from  the  description  given  by  the  ardent 
writers  of  seventy  years  ago.  It  had  snuggled  up  into  its 
higher,  northwest  comer,  and  occupied  hardly  a  quarter 
lof  its  former  area  within  the  walls.  The  great,  treeless, 
imoccupied  space  between  the  present  city  and  the  river- 
front still  showed  at  many  points  the  marks  of  the  spoilers. 
But  nature,  ever  gracious,  had  hastened  to  veil  the  hideous 
waste  with  campestral  shmbs  and  flowers,  and  now  it 
stretched,  a  sort  of  apologetic  savanna  upon  which,  here  and 
there,  a  "squatter"  had  erected  a  bamboo  hut  and  planted  a 
garden.  At  the  river  were  several  "landing  stayes" — ^as 
they  are  called — connected  with  the  shore  by  bridges  of  cob- 
docks  and  trussed  spans;  near  them  a  few  small  marchouses. 

Nanking  is  now  an  important  station  of  the  Republican 
Army  of  China,  the  site  of  one  of  its  arsenals,  modern  and 
efficient,  even  to  the  forging  of  heavy  ordnance.  It  is  also 
one  of  the  great  missionary  centres  of  China. 


192     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

''The  Methodist  Episcopal  and  the  Foreign  Christian 
Mission  have  both  large  hospitals  and  well-equipped  col- 
leges in  the  city.  The  other  missions,  working  in  the  city 
and  district,  are  too  numerous  to  be  mentioned  seriatim, 
but  it  may  be  asserted  that,  with  the  exception  of  Shanghai 
and  possibly  Peking,  there  is  no  city  in  China  which  has 
such  a  large  body  of  missionaries  or  such  magnificent 
institutions." 

No  arrangement  had  been  made  for  meetings  at  Nanking, 
but  we  were  entertained  by  the  missionaries,  and  the  two 
days  of  our  stay  were  spent  looking  about  the  historic  city. 
The  Buddhist  temples — one  of  ten  thousand  gods — were 
many,  all  of  them  having  picturesquely  festooned  eaves 
with  high  curved  comers,  well  guarded  round  about  with 
fabulous  monsters  and  infamous  dragons.  Dr.  Chapman 
wanted  to  purchase  one  of  the  ''ten  thousand  gods,''  but 
the  priest  declined  to  sell  for  fear  "it  might  be  missed.'' 

On  the  twentieth  of  September,  1909,  we  boarded  the  river 
steamer  Tatung  and  began  our  journey  to  Hankow. 

At  Wuhu  a  company  of  missionaries  assembled  at  the 
wharf  to  bid  us  godspeed. 

A  few  miles  from  Kiukiang,  at  the  summit  of  the  Lii 
Mountains,  five  thousand  feet  in  elevation,  is  Ruling,  the 
famous  summer  resort  to  which  many  of  the  missionaries 
go  during  the  intense  heat  of  summer.  Our  steamer  touched 
at  the  Ruling  landing,  and  a  number  of  these  missionaries, 
headed  by  Mr.  Fletcher  Brockman  and  Dr.  Macklin,  met 
us  to  exchange  greetings  and  to  express  their  appreciation 
,of  Dr.  Chapman's  visit  to  China. 

Without  further  incident  we  reached  Hankow  and  were 
cordially  welcomed  by  that  veteran  missionary  Dr.  Griffith 
John.    After  Soochow  had  been  sacked  by  the  Taipings, 


THE  ORIENT  193 

Dr.  John,  with  a  splendid  courage,  instead  of  retreating, 
pressed  on  up  the  Yangtse  River  and  planted  the  standard 
of  Christ  at  the  junction  of  its  strong  affluent  the  Han. 
Here  patiently  and  with  unfaltering  faith  he  carried  on  his 
missionary  activities  until  in  1864  he  baptized  his  first  con- 
verts and  planted  a  church,  the  only  one  in  the  Yangtse 
valley.  The  following  year  General  Gordon  gave  the  death- 
blow to  the  Taiping  RebeUion  and  immediately  the  Anglo- 
Chinese  Commission  erected  the  treaty  port  of  Hankow. 
At  this  point  with  a  flow  of  twenty-five  hundred  miles  the 
Yangtse,  a  giant  of  water,  comes  in  from  the  southwest  and 
receives  the  Han  full  and  strong  from  the  Sinling  mountain 
chain  to  the  northwest.  With  floods  united  they  pom- 
eastward  to  the  sea.  At  the  junction  of  these  two  streams 
are  the  three  cities  of  Hankow,  Wuchang,  and  Hanyang. 
Wuchang  and  Hankow  lie  opposite  each  other  on  the  banks 
of  the  Yangtse;  Hanyang  is  separated  from  Hankow  by  the 
Han.  The  Anglo-Chinese  Commission  made  of  the  three 
cities  one  municipality,  located  the  civic  and  educational 
centres  in  Wuchang,  established  the  foreign  quarters,  to- 
gether with  the  warehouses  and  commercial  docks  at  Han- 
kow, which  was  also  the  terminal  of  the  newly  opened  rail- 
way to  Peking.  More  interesting  to  us  than  any  material 
development  was  the  inspiring  picture  presented  by  the 
venerable  Dr.  Griffith  John.  The  work  of  Protestant 
missions  in  Hupeh  was  begun  by  him,  and  in  1905  he  ob- 
served the  jubilee  of  his  arrival  in  China.  He  had  lived  to 
see  the  flame  he  kindled  in  Hupeh  light  up  the  great  Prov- 
ince of  Hunan. 

The  water  tower  in  Hankow  is  the  loftiest  structure  in  the 
city  and  on  its  summit  Dr.  Chapman  gave  a  short  Bible 
reading  from  Deuteronomy  34:4 — ''This  is  the  land.    I 


194     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

have  caused  thee  to  see  it  with  thine  eyes."  Looking  over 
the  triplicate  city  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  tower,  he  spoke 
with  deep  pathos  of  the  appalling  need  that  only  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  could  reach. 

Hankow  is  seven  hundred  and  fifty-five  miles  from  Peking 
and  we  traversed  that  distance  on  the  "Imperial  Chinese 
Limited."  It  was  "  Imperial "  in  name  only  and  "Limited " 
in  everything  designed  to  make  a  traveller  comfortable. 
The  line  crosses  the  Province  of  Honan  from  south  to  north 
and  the  Yellow  River  is  spanned  by  a  bridge  two  miles  in 
length.  The  Chinese  looked  upon  the  building  of  the 
bridge  as  a  challenge  to  the  River  God  and  predicted  its 
speedy  destruction.  The  god  seems  to  have  disdained  the 
challenge  and  the  bridge  is  still  standing. 

Chihli,  meaning  Direct  Rule,  was  before  the  fall  of  the 
Empire  the  seat  of  the  supreme  government  and  therefore 
the  most  important  of  all  the  provinces  of  China.  For  a 
thousand  years,  with  several  changes  in  dynasty,  Peking 
remained  the  metropolis  of  the  Empire. 

The  capital  of  the  province  is  Paotingfu  and  was  always 
the  residence  of  the  Governor-General.  We  passed  through 
this  city  en  route  to  Peking  and  not  without  deep  emotion 
as  we  thought  of  the  missionaries  murdered  by  the  Boxers. 
For  that  crime  the  city  was  invaded  by  the  allied  troops 
and  punishment  inflicted  upon  the  responsible  officials. 
But  there  was  no  recompense  for  the  loss  sustained  by  the 
death  of  these  devoted  men  and  wom^n. 

Peking,  now  the  capital  of  the  Republic  of  China,  was  the 
seat  of  the  Imperial  Government  from  1409-1912.  Walled 
and  moated,  it  has  an  area  of  twenty-five  miles.  The  walls 
are  pierced  by  seven  gates,  the  central  one  always  reserved 
for  the  Emperor,  all  closed  at  sunset.    The  great  Inner 


THE  ORIENT  195 

City  is  surrounded  by  a  wall  forty  feet  high,  sixty-two  feet  at 
the  base,  and  thirty-four  feet  at  the  top.  Within  these  walls, 
and  at  the  very  centre,  is  the  Purple  Forbidden  City,  a 
great  walled  enclosure,  with  towers  at  the  comers  and  over 
the  gates,  containing  the  imperial  palace  with  its  pleasure 
grounds,  gardens,  reception  halls,  pavilions,  and  buildings 
all  roofed  with  yellow  porcelain  tile,  formerly  required  by 
the  officers  of  state.  Around  all  these  was  the  imperial 
city,  six  miles  in  circuit,  with  other  government  offices, 
temples,  pleasure  grounds,  artificial  lakes,  and  the  white 
Ming  pagoda  built  on  the  spot  where  the  last  Emperor  of 
the  Ming  dynasty  hanged  himself.  The  most  notable 
street  is  Legation  Avenue  where  the  foreign  embassies  are 
housed  in  stately  buildings  largely  in  the  architectural  style 
of  their  respective  states  and  to  that  degree  inharmonious 
with  the  buildings  about  them.  The  residences,  originally 
built  for  mandarins,  are  in  classic  Chinese  beauty  and  sur- 
rounded with  exquisite  garden  culture.  Here  also  is  located 
the  Imperial  University,  containing  the  Examination  Hall 
with  its  ten  thousand  cells  where  triennial  examinations 
are  held.  Here  also  are  the  Imperial  Observatory,  mission 
houses,  schools,  Confucian,  Buddhist,  Taoist,  and  Lamaistic 
temples,  and  the  great  Drum  Tower,  the  temple  for  the 
bronze  bell,  seventeen  feet  high  and  twelve  feet  eight  inches 
across  the  flange,  weighing  forty-five  tons  and  originally 
a  war  alarm  to  summon  the  army  against  incursions  by  the 
Tatar  hordes  from  the  north.  Outside  the  walls,  in  the 
Chinese,  or  Outer  City,  are  the  railroad  station  and  all 
tracks.  The  streets  of  the  Chinese  city  are  lined  with  shops, 
gorgeously  painted,  decorated  with  pendent  signs  in  gilt 
characters.  The  main  street  is  always  noisy  and  filled  with 
mandarins,  government  messengers,  envoys  from  the  prov- 


196     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

inces,  Mongols  with  high  Bactrian  camels,  yellow-robed 
Tibetans  and  Mongol  lamas,  together  with  street  vendors 
of  medicine,  things  to  eat  and  wear.  The  smaller  streets 
are  filthy  and  vile  smelling. 

At  the  American  Presbjrterian  Compound  we  met  Dr. 
Lowry,  his  son,  and  the  Rev.  W.  A.  P.  Martin,  D.D.,  the 
founder  of  the  American  Presbj^erian  Mission,  who  had 
entered  China  sixty  years  before  and  was  the  Nestor  of 
missions.  We  saw  eight  of  the  native  pastors  who,  barely 
escaping  with  their  lives,  had  passed  through  the  Boxer 
trouble. 

The  Presbyterians  at  Peking  have  a  Theological  College 
in  connection  with  the  Educational  Union.  The  Univer- 
sity of  Peking  is  the  educational  headquarters  for  all  mission- 
ary activities. 

Regular  services  were  held  in  Peking  each  night,  but  the 
long-continued  strain,  together  with  the  oppressive  heat, 
was  beginning  to  tell  upon  the  robust  constitution  of  Dr. 
Chapman.  For  six  months  he  had  preached  from  two  to 
five  times  every  day.  With  the  temperature  at  the  fusing 
point  he  was  persuaded  to  consult  a  physician  who  insisted 
that  he  should  take  a  prolonged  rest.  He  continued  until 
the  first  of  October,  when  the  final  meetings  were  held,  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  second  we  left  for  Tientsin,  the  port 
of  Peking. 

Tientsin  is  second  only  to  Shanghai  in  volume  of  trade 
and  extent  of  foreign  population.  On  either  side  of  the  Pei- 
ho  River  there  is  an  immense  frontage  owned  and  governed 
by  the  foreign  powers.  The  foreign  settlement  is  a  mile 
and  a  half  beyond  the  city  proper  and  is  popularly  known 
as  the  Red  Bamboo  Grove.  It  has  a  fine  concrete  sea  wall 
and  esplanade,  well-kept  streets,  dignified  dwellings,  great 


THE  ORIENT  197 

warehouses,  electric  lights  and  power,  club  houses  and 
American  schools.  Dr.  Chapman,  while  unable  to  hold 
public  services,  met  the  missionaries  in  conference,  after 
which  the  party  left  for  Taku  and  boarded  the  Sagami  Mam 
for  the  sail  to  Korea. 

On  the  fifth  day  of  October  we  rounded  the  great  fortress 
of  Port  Arthur  and  docked  for  a  few  hours  at  Dalney,  the 
port  of  entrance  to  Manchuria.  The  steamer  remained 
long  enough  for  us  to  take  dinner  at  the  Yamato  Hotel. 
We  called  upon  Dr.  Winn  who  makes  Dalney  his  head- 
quarters in  the  great  work  done  by  him  through 
southern  Manchuria.  On  leaving  his  church  we  met  Dr. 
Arthur  J.  Brown,  who  was  visiting  the  missions  in  Japan, 
Korea,  and  China.  The  year  marked  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  beginning  of  Christian  work  in  Japan 
and  was  also  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  Korea 
Mission. 

Our  steamer  called  at  Chef oo  in  the  Province  of  Shantung, 
destined  to  become  the  subject  of  bitter  controversy  at  the 
Peace  Table  at  Versailles.  We  had  time  to  visit  only  some 
of  the  shops,  make  some  purchases,  and  then  to  leave  behind 
us  the  Celestial  Empire  with  its  teeming  population  and 
mysterious  potential  power  that  shall  yet  express  itself 
in  the  full  awakening  to  national  consciousness. 

We  went  to  Korea  by  the  way  of  Shimonoseki  and  Fusan, 
arriving  at  Seoul  on  the  ninth  day  of  October.  The  Mission 
Station  at  Seoul  was  opened  in  1884.  We  were  welcomed 
by  such  distinguished  missionaries  as  Dr.  and  Mrs.  H.  G. 
Underwood,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Gale,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  0.  R. 
Avison,  and  others. 

A  great  revival  had  been  sweeping  over  Korea  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  and  these  missionaries  were  aiming  at  the  con- 


198     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

version  of  a  million  souls  to  mark  the  twenty-fifth  anniver- 
sary of  the  founding  of  the  mission. 

The  Annual  Report  of  the  Presbyterian  Foreign  Board  of 
that  year  speaks  of  the  visit  of  Dr.  Chapman  and  his  party 
and  emphasizes  the  spiritual  uplift  given  to  the  missionaries 
by  his  visit. 

Seoul,  the  capital  of  Korea,  lies  in  a  basin  surrounded  by 
rugged  hills,  enclosed  by  a  wall  twenty  or  thu-ty  feet  high, 
with  eight  gates  and  a  circuit  of  eleven  miles. 

"The  City  of  Seoul" — so  reads  the  above-mentioned  re- 
port— "develops  yearly  surprises  that  tax  the  recorder  to 
keep  track  of:  new  streets,  new  buildings,  newly  planted 
trees  on  the  mountain  sides,  new  ideas,  new  customs,  in  fact, 
a  whirl  of  change  and  transition.  Seoul  is  now  quite  a 
modem  city,  with  frock-coated,  top-hatted  officials,  courts 
of  justice  headed  by  a  Japanese  Presbyterian  elder,  hand- 
some bank  buildings,  electric  street  car  systems,  water 
works,  etc.  The  ambitions  of  the  land,  the  struggles  for 
preferment  and  political  schemes  all  help  to  keep  the  city 
in  a  state  of  ferment,  and  make  it  a  harder  but  none  the 
less  needful  field  for  missionary  effort." 

Dr.  Chapman,  to  his  great  sorrow,  was  without  physical 
strength  longer  to  continue  the  strain,  and  he  reluctantly 
followed  the  advice  of  his  physician  who  prescribed  a  pro- 
longed rest.  He  had  intended  to  visit  Pyeng  Yang,  but, 
dissuaded  from  this,  he  with  the  writer  went  on  to  Japan, 
leaving  northern  Korea  to  be  visited  by  Mr.  Alexander 
and  the  other  members  of  the  party.  On  the  evening  of 
October  fifteenth  we  left  for  Kobe,  arriving  the  next  day. 

Kobe  is  a  seaport  on  the  south  shore  of  the  Island  of 
Hondo,  situated  on  a  fine,  sandy  beach  at  the  base  of  a  high 
coast  range,  and  at  the  entrance  of  the  far-famed  Inland 


THE  ORIENT  199 

Sea.  It  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  of  the  Japanese  treaty 
ports.  The  bund  is  faced  with  stone,  the  streets  are  wide, 
well  kept,  and  lighted  by  electricity. 

A  week  was  spent  in  Kobe,  and  Dr.  Chapman  gave  to  the 
meetings  such  time  as  he  was  able.  The  climate  was  salu- 
brious, the  weather  perfect,  and  his  strength  returned  with 
amazing  rapidity.  With  increasing  delight  in  the  wonders 
of  Japan,  he  spent  hours  in  Suwayama  Park,  visited  more 
than  once  the  Nanko  Temple  with  its  War  God  Shrine, 
and  returned  again  and  again  to  the  lovely  Nunobiki  Water- 
fall, declared  to  be  the  most-photographed  spot  in  Kobe. 

Mr.  Alexander  and  his  party  arrived  on  the  twenty-first 
of  October  and  on  the  twenty-fifth  we  were  all  at  Kyoto. 

Kyoto  was  the  capital  of  Japan  from  794  to  1868,  when 
the  Shogunate  was  abolished  and  the  Mikado  and  his  court 
removed  to  Tokyo.  Kyoto  is  unwalled  and  is  divided  into 
two  unequal  parts  by  the  Kamogawa.  In  one  section  are 
the  hotels  patronized  by  foreigners,  the  Go-She,  or  Imperial 
Palace,  with  its  beautiful  gardens,  plotted  with  the  exquisite 
taste  of  the  Japanese,  and  covering  an  area  of  twenty-six 
acres.  The  palace  has  an  air  of  quiet  elegance  peculiarly 
Japanese.  Near  by  is  the  castle  of  the  Shogun,  built  in 
1601,  now  the  seat  of  the  city  government.  Though  a  city 
of  obtrusive  gayety,  it  is  notably  religious,  filled  with  tem- 
ples and  shrines,  a  hundred  Shinto  and  nearly  a  thousand 
Buddhist. 

The  city  is  also  a  centre  of  art  and  industry.  Much 
of  the  Satsuma  is  here  decorated.  The  shops  are  gorgeous 
with  silks,  crepes,  velvets,  brocades,  embroideries,  porce- 
lain, cloisonne  and  enamelled  ware,  employing  thousands 
of  people,  and  offering  irresistible  attraction  to  the  stranger 
to  make  purchases  until  his  purse  is  exhausted. 


200     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Kyoto  is  the  seat  of  an  imperial  university,  with  colleges 
of  law,  medicine,  and  engineering.  Here  also  is  the  dosh- 
isha,  or  college,  under  the  direction  of  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

Dr.  Chapman  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  conduct 
services  both  in  English  and  through  an  interpreter  and  he 
had  the  full  cooperation  of  Mr.  R.  P.  Gorbold,  a  most 
enthusiastic  and  successful  missionary.  After  a  week  in 
Kyoto  we  went  to  Nikko  to  rest. 

Nikko — by  interpretation  the  ''Sun's  Brightness" — is 
reputed  the  most  beautiful  spot  in  Japan.  About  eighty 
miles  northwest  of  Tokyo,  surrounded  by  unrivalled  nat- 
ural beauty  and  containing  a  multitude  of  temples.  Nikko 
is  noted  also  for  the  mortuary  shrines  of  lyoyasu  and  of 
lyenitsu,  his  grandson. 

At  the  time  of  our  visit  the  city  was  decorated  with 
flags  and  banners  in  preparation  for  the  coming  of  Lord 
Kitchener  and  his  party.  We  could  get  hotel  accommoda- 
tions only  until  the  day  of  their  arrival  and  therefore  failed 
to  see  the  distinguished  Britisher.  While  at  Nikko  we 
made  the  never-to-be  forgotten  journey  to  Chuzenzi. 

We  could  spend  but  one  day  in  Tokyo.  The  chief 
feature  of  interest  at  the  capital  city  was  the  enclosure 
within  the  groimds  of  the  ancient  palace.  East  of  the 
castle  is  the  commercial  centre  of  the  city,  with  banks, 
warehouses,  shops,  hotels,  restaurants,  newspaper  offices, 
and  dwellings.  The  main  street,  variously  named  at 
different  lengths,  is  a  broad  highway  lined  with  trees.  All 
the  buildings  are  low  and  of  semi-European  architecture, 
none  of  them  imposing.  Across  the  River  Smida  are  the 
places  familiar  to  tourists  for  the  display  of  flowers — cherry 
blossoms  at  Mukojima,  wistaria  at  Kamoido,  and  iris  at 


THE  ORIENT  201 

Herikiri.  This  section  was  formerly  the  place  of  residence 
for  the  Foreign  Concession.  Since  the  abolition  of  extra 
territoriaHty  foreigners  have  been  permitted  to  live  in 
all  parts  of  the  city.  Tokyo  is  the  seat  of  a  university, 
founded  in  1868  by  the  union  of  two  older  schools  as  a  result 
of  the  political  and  social  revolution  of  that  year.  Formerly 
under  the  direction  of  foreigners,  it  is  now  controlled  by 
Japanese  who  have  been  educated  in  Europe  and  the 
United  States.  It  has  courses  in  law,  medicine,  engineering, 
literature,  science,  and  agriculture,  with  more  than  five 
thousand  students  and  a  library  of  more  than  five  hundred 
thousand  volumes,  half  of  which  are  Japanese  and  Chinese, 
and  the  rest  in  foreign  languages. 

In  Tokyo  we  were  the  guests  of  the  Rev.  Naomi  Tamura 
who  had  been  educated  in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
and  was  conducting  an  independent  mission  in  the  Japanese 
capital. 

The  last  ten  days  were  spent  in  Yokohama,  the  principal 
treaty  port.  The  Bluff,  rising  above  the  native  city,  is 
filled  with  handsome  residences  and  bungalows.  In  the 
city  there  are  some  fine  stone  buildings,  among  them  the 
Prefectural  Buildings,  the  Court  House,  Post  Office,  Custom 
House,  and  railroad  station,  and  the  Anglican,  French, 
Catholic,  and  Protestant  Union  Churches.  Daily  and 
weekly  newspapers  are  published  in  English,  French,  and 
Japanese.  Ships  discharge  cargoes  on  a  pier  two  thousand 
feet  long,  and  the  anchorage  is  protected  by  a  breakwater 
running  twelve  thousand  feet  into  the  sea.  Yokohama  is 
the  great  emporium  for  silk,  as  Kobe  is  for  tea.  The  railway 
between  Yokohama  and  Tokyo,  built  in  1872,  was  the  first 
in  Japan.  Mission  work  began  in  Yokohama  in  1859,  the 
year  of  Dr.  Chapman's  birth. 


202     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

During  the  ten  days  spent  in  Yokohama,  Dr.  Chapman 
had  sufficiently  recovered  health  to  conduct  a  series  of 
evangelistic  meetings  for  the  English-speaking  people,  and  a 
large  company  of  new-made  friends  came  to  the  wharf  to 
bid  us  farewell,  when,  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  November, 
we  embarked  on  the  Empress  of  China  for  the  long  sail 
home. 

Even  a  hurried  journey  through  the  Orient  reveals  in 
some  measure  the  complex  problem  of  foreign  missions  as 
well  as  the  vast  extent  of  the  imoccupied  fields  that  offer  to 
the  Church  unmeasurable  harvests. 

On  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  March  we  had  sailed  from 
Vancouver  on  the  Makura,  leaving  behind  the  Empress  of 
China,  with  her  bunkers  filled,  ready  to  start  for  the 
Orient.  On  the  twenty-sixth  of  November  we  steamed  into 
Vancouver  on  the  Empress  of  China  and  found  there  the 
Makura  coaled-up  for  another  trip  to  Australia. 

The  long  Pacific  voyage  had  given  Dr.  Chapman  the  rest 
he  so  greatly  needed.  His  mind,  however,  had  been  busy 
with  a  prospective  programme  for  the  coming  year.  His 
plan  well  defined,  strength  and  courage  renewed,  he  started 
eastward,  eager  to  tell  what  God  had  wrought  in  Australia 
and  the  Orient. 

Over  the  Canadian  Pacific,  by  which  eight  months  before 
we  had  come,  we  now  returned.  As  we  ascended  the 
higher  altitudes  we  noticed  that  the  mountain  peaks  were 
already  covering  themselves  with  their  new  mantles  of 
snow.  Nature  along  this  scenic  route  is  always  beautiful 
but  never  so  lovely  as  when  transfigured  by  the  autumnal 
tints.  But  no  time  was  to  be  lost,  and  the  train  whirled 
us  on  to  that  chain  of  American  cities  where  previous 
campaigns  had  "been  held  and  whence  in  a  sense  the  mission 


THE  ORIENT  203 

to  Australia  and  the  Orient  had  gone  forth.  On  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  November  we  were  in  Minneapolis;  on  the  second 
of  December  in  Chicago;  on  the  sixth  in  Pittsburgh;  on  the 
ninth  in  Philadelphia;  on  the  tenth  in  New  York,  and  on  the 
twelfth  in  Boston. 

In  each  of  these  places  there  were  evangelistic  gatherings. 
Thousands  crowded  into  the  largest  auditoriums  to  hear  in 
detail  about  evangelism  in  Australia  and  the  Far  East.  The 
culmination  was  reached  in  Boston.  The  services  were  held 
in  Mechanic's  Hall  wherein  had  been  witnessed  the  closing 
scenes  of  the  Boston  campaign.  Special  invitations  had 
been  sent  to  clergymen,  and  from  many  a  state  and  all  New 
England,  to  the  number  of  three  thousand,  they  gathered 
there  with  church  officers  and  other  active  workers,  not  only 
to  hear  Dr.  Chapman's  recital,  but  to  renew  the  memories 
of  the  city's  awakening. 

Dr.  Chapman  was  convinced  that  the  time  had  now 
come  for  a  world-wide,  simultaneous  effort  to  carry  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  to  all  nations.  Had  there  been  an 
adequate  response  to  his  glowing  appeal  an  evangelistic 
movement  that  would  have  belted  the  globe  would  have 
started  then  and  there. 

Upon  this  occasion  he  made  a  statement  that  was  the 
subject  of  much  comment  and  was  reported  in  the  press 
throughout  the  country.  In  it  he  expressed  the  conviction 
that  the  boards  and  agencies  of  all  evangelical  denomina- 
tions directing  foreign  missionary  work  should  instantly 
recall  from  the  field  every  missionary  that  did  not  un- 
reservedly believe  in  the  integrity  and  authority  of  the 
Bible.  This  assertion  implied  that  some  missionaries  did 
question  the  authority  of  Scripture  and  were  therefore 
without  a  definite  message.    His  plea  was  without  effect. 


204     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

He  was  reputed  an  ultra-conservative,  and  he  was,  and  was 
convinced  that  no  man  could  be  a  soul  winner  if  there  was  in 
his  mind  even  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  about  the  Bible. 

Following  the  Boston  meeting  Dr.  Chapman  spent  the 
remaining  days  of  the  old  year  with  the  relatives  and 
friends  from  whom  he  had  been  so  long  separated. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  TEN 

Br.  Chapman  returned  from  Australia  with  a  fervent 
desire  to  marshal  the  force  for  an  interdenominational, 
world-encircling,  evangelistic  campaign.  He  knew  that 
such  movement  could  not  be  instituted  by  uncoordinated 
private  initiative  that  so  frequently  forestalls  and  pre- 
cludes wiser  action. 

During  his  absence  in  Australia  the  General  Assembly 
of  his  Denomination  in  convention  at  Denver,  Colorado, 
through  its  Evangelistic  Committee,  expressed  its  firm 
conviction  "that  God  has  opened  up  the  way  for  not  only 
interdenominational  cooperation  in  evangelistic  work  at 
home,  but  also  for  international  cooperation  in  this  work 
among  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  churches  throughout 
the  world." 

The  Assembly  went  even  further,  adopting  the  Com- 
mittee's recommendation: 

That  the  Assembly  express  its  hearty  approval  of  the  movement 
for  world-wide  evangelization,  in  which  the  Presbyterian  Church 
throughout  the  world  shall  be  associated  together,  soliciting  the 
cooperation  of  all  who  love  our  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
in  sincerity  and  in  truth;  and  that  the  EvangeHstic  Committee  be 
empowered  to  appoint  five  of  its  members  as  a  Special  Committee  on 
"World-wide  Inter-Presbyterian  Evangelistic  Work,"  the  Chairman  of 
the  Special  Committee  to  be  the  Chairman  of  the  Assembly's  Evangel- 
istic Committee. 

205 


206     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

A  dream  suggested  by  the  deliverance  of  an  Ecclesiastical 
Judicatory  scatters  no  mist  that  enshrouds  the  road  to 
Utopia. 

Yet  dreams  are  of  value:  they  stimulate  the  imagina- 
tion and  quicken  the  pulse  of  activity.  The  phantom  of 
interdenominational  cooperation  is  none  the  less  a  flight  of 
fancy  as  cheerless  and  chimerical  as  the  ghost  of  wisdom 
conjured  in  the  councils  of  unauthorized  and  self-appointed 
leadership. 

Immediately  after  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly 
in  1909,  when  the  above  recommendation  was  adopted, 
correspondence  was  had  with  the  officials  of  the  churches 
holding  the  Presbyterian  system  in  Canada  and  the  United 
States,  and  these  respective  bodies  expressed  interest  and 
appointed  representatives  to  serve  on  "The  World-wide 
Committee." 

Early  in  January,  1910,  the  Evangelistic  Committee  met 
in  New  York  and  appointed  a  Committee  consisting  of  Dr. 
W.  H.  Roberts,  Dr.  H.  C.  Minton,  and  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chap- 
man to  advocate  the  world-wide  movement  before  the 
Presbyterian  bodies  of  England  and  the  European  con- 
tinent. 

With  such  official  and  encouraging  endorsement  Dr.  Chap- 
man naturally  felt  that  the  goal  of  his  desire  was  within  sight. 

Before  leaving  for  England  he  was  obliged  to  keep 
previous  and  important  engagements.  These  involved 
simultaneous  compaigns  in  Bangor  and  Portland,  Maine; 
Dayton  and  Columbus,  Ohio. 

Any  detailed  account  of  these  meetings  would  merely 
enlarge  without  increasing  the  substance  of  what  has  been 
written  concerning  similar  services  elsewhere,  and  changes 
however  inspiring — when  rung  on  the  same  bells — are  not 


NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  TEN         207 

without  wearisomeness.  In  fact,  the  simultaneous  method 
reached  its  meridian  in  meetings  Hke  those  of  Boston  and 
Melbourne.  Nothing  that  followed  excelled  them  either 
in  magnitude  or  in  interest.  Possibly  the  unparalleled 
publicity  evoked  an  unwarranted,  if  not  an  unhealthy, 
expectancy.  People  were  dazzled  hy  the  brilliancy  of  the 
reports.  Weekly  editions  of  newspapers,  like  the  Times  of 
Orillia,  Canada,  were  sent  to  all  Presbyterian  ministers  in 
the  United  States. 

The  Boston  Post  printed  and  distributed  free  about  two 
hundred  thousand  copies  of  a  special  edition  concerning  the 
Boston  campaign.  The  religious  press  was  not  less 
voluminous  in  broadcasting  the  news.  A  similar  extraor- 
dinary publicity  was  given  to  the  meetings  in  Australia. 
Papers  were  sent  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Glowing  hopes  kindled  by  such  reports  were  often 
extinguished.  The  disappointment  was  always  with  the 
subordinate  meetings,  not  with  the  central  ones  conducted 
by  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander.  There  the  same 
powerful  impact  was  always  given.  The  earthquake  that 
shakes  the  mountain  may  leave  the  molehill  intact.  The 
results  of  the  sectional  meetings,  in  the  judgment  of  those 
who  felt  under  obligation  to  support  them,  were  small  in 
proportion  to  the  promise.  By  these  the  whole  movement 
was  judged.  Such  judgment,  though  erroneous,  revealed 
the  weakness  of  the  simultaneous  method.  It  is  not  the 
best  method  as  Dr.  Chapman  in  his  later  years  fully  realized. 
But  what  is  the  best  method?  Perhaps  pastoral  evangelism 
which  he  afterward — in  fact,  always — so  ardently 
advocated. 

On  March  thirtieth  Dr.  Chapman,  with  Mr.  Alexander 
and  others  of  their  party,  sailed  for  Cardiff,  Wales,  to 


208     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

conduct  a  mission  for  one  month.  These  meetings  were, 
in  a  measure,  preparatory  to  a  more  extended  work  through- 
out the  United  Kingdom. 

The  Rev.  George  Howe,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  speaking 
of  one  of  the  Cardiff  meetings,  said : 

I  sat  last  evening  with  the  full  view  of  the  thousands  crowded  into 
the  huge  Wood  Street  Church,  while  Mr.  Alexander  skilfully  and 
tenderly  by  song  prepared  the  way  for  the  great  message  of  the 
preacher,  and  while  Doctor  Chapman  was  delivering— on  an  excep- 
tionally difficult  text — one  of  the  most  fascinating,  heart-searching, 
powerful,  and  enhghtening  sermons  that  it  has  ever  been  my  privilege 
to  listen  to  in  this  or  other  lands.  The  thousands  were  amazingly  en- 
thralled. Every  eye  was  turned  to  the  preacher.  There  was  not  a 
move  through  the  whole  sermon.  The  silence  was  deep  and  profound. 
It  was  a  burning  message  coming  from  a  man  of  God  all  on  flame  with 
a  passion  for  the  souls  of  men.  Hearts  and  consciences  were  stirred — 
awesomely  stirred.  God  was  there.  Ministers  sat  with  eyes  closed, 
grave  faces,  their  lips  moving;  and  who  could  doubt  but  that  their 
prayer  was  "Lord  make  me  a  holier  man  and  a  soul-winner."  Hoary- 
headed  saints  wept.  Ladies  and  gentlemen  in  high  positions,  journal- 
ists, drunkards,  gamblers,  and  sinners  of  every  kind,  with  poor  fallen 
girls,  sat  with  solemn  faces  and  melting  hearts.  The  invitation  was 
wooingly  given  for  those  to  come  forward  to  accept  Christ.  Two 
hundred  men,  under  the  age  of  thirty-five,  rose  and  entered  the  en- 
quiry room  arranged  for  them.  Scores  of  women  and  girls  went  into 
their  enquiry  room.  Hundreds  stayed  in  the  church,  where  an  enquiry 
meeting  was  held.  This  thoughtful,  anxious,  eager  crowd  of  seekers 
was  a  sight  that  Cardiff  has  rarely,  if  ever,  witnessed  before.  It  was 
a  very  stirring  moment  when  an  old  minister  mounted  a  chair,  and  with 
tears  shining  like  dewdrops  in  his  eyes,  exclaimed — "My  son  is  among 
those  who  have  accepted  Christ  to-night."  Yet  there  was  no  outburst. 
Feelings  were  too  deep  for  such  manifestations.  But  there  was  the 
heavenly,  radiant  smile,  and  the  joy-beaming  light  on  every  face, 
showing  that  all  had  joined  in  the  gladness  of  the  glad  father.  And  so 
we  are  in  the  grip  and  thrill  of  an  unprecedented  soul-saving  and  life- 
sanctifying  mission. 

During  the  closing  days  of  this  intensely  solemn  mission 
in  Cardiff  Dr.  Chapman  was  shocked  by  a  cable  announcing 


NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  TEN  209 

the  death  of  Mr.  John  H.  Converse  who  expired  on  May 
third  at  his  home  at  Rosemont,  Pennsylvania.  The 
demise  of  this  illustrious  and  consecrated  layman  clouded 
the  dawn  of  hope  his  enthusiasm  and  generosity  had 
inspired.  On  the  second  day  following  his  death  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Evangelistic  Committee  met  in 
Philadelphia  and  adopted  a  Memorial  Minute  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  General  Assembly. 

Mr.  Converse  had  prepared  and  signed  the  Annual 
Report  which  the  Committee  resolved  to  submit  without 
change  to  the  Assembly. 

For  nine  years  Mr.  Converse  had  favoured  and  for- 
warded the  work  of  evangelism,  and  in  his  last  report  to  the 
Assembly  he  recommended  the  adoption  of  resolutions  that 
contemplated  a  world-wide  evangelistic  movement  in 
harmony  with  a  plan  adopted  by  the  American  Section  of 
the  World  Alliance  of  the  Reformed  churches  holding  the 
Presbyterian  System  of  doctrine. 

The  interception  of  death  sent  a  withering  blast  over  the 
hopes  so  long  cherished  by  Dr.  Chapman.  He  sailed  from 
Liverpool  May  seventh  on  the  Lusitania,  the  ill-starred 
steamer  that,  five  years  later,  on  the  anniversary  of  that 
day,  was  to  sink  beneath  the  waves,  and  send  a  shudder 
through  America,  sounding  the  death  knell  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government. 

Dr.  Chapman,  grieved  and  depressed  by  the  loss  of  Mr. 
Converse  who  had  been  to  him  a  true  and  constant  friend, 
arrived  in  New  York  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  May.  On  the 
sixteenth  he  made  an  address  in  Carnegie  Hall,  and  on  the 
seventeenth  went  to  Atlantic  City,  New  Jersey,  to  preside 
at  the  Pre-Assembly  Conference  on  Evangelism.  On  the 
eighteenth  he  addressed  the  Commissioners  of  the  Assembly 


210     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

and  gave  them  some  account  of  his  Australian  trip.  On 
Friday  morning,  the  twentieth,  at  a  memorial  service,  Dr. 
William  Henry  Roberts,  Dr.  Chapman,  and  Dr.  Clelland 
B.  McAfee  made  addresses  reviewing  the  life  of  Mr.  Converse 
as  a  Man  of  Business,  a  Soul  Winner,  and  a  Friend. 

During  the  summer  Dr.  Chapman  made  his  home  at 
Stony  Brook,  Long  Island,  New  York.  With  him  were 
Professor  and  Mrs.  DuBois,  who  had  given  themselves  in 
such  unfailing  devotion  to  his  children.  That  summer  they 
were  all  together.  His  daughter,  Bertha,  Mrs.  Goodson, 
had  a  cottage  near  him,  and  so  had  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ralph  C. 
Norton,  who  had  travelled  with  him  around  the  world. 

Dr.  Chapman  loved  a  home,  none  more  so  than  he,  and 
he  believed  it  to  be  the  one  place  on  earth  that  in  some 
measure  could  be  made  like  heaven.  At  the  close  of  the 
preface  to  "When  Home  Is  Heaven" — one  of  his  latest 
books — he  says: 

It  is  because  I  know  what  a  Christian  home  may  be  and  how  power- 
fully it  may  influence  the  members  of  the  household,  that  I  am  giving 
these  messages;  for  when  a  home  is  Christ  controlled,  then  home  is 
Heaven. 

The  home  of  his  childhood,  desolated  too  early  by  death, 
was  never  effaced  from  his  memory,  and  often,  with 
sharpened  pain,  he  looked  back  over  the  unpassable  gulf  of 
years,  with  a  sigh  escaping  from  his  heart  like  that  of  David 
when  he  longed  for  a  drink  from  the  well  at  the  gate  of 
Bethlehem. 

So  in  our  thought  may  the  past  be  redeemed  from 
oblivion. 

Dr.  Chapman's  passionate  cry — God  give  us  homes — was 
turned  into  a  festal  song,  the  longing  of  the  heart  for  home. 

The  receding  years  softened  any  hard  lines  into  an  ideal 


NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  TEN  211 

picture;  and  Wolvenhook,  Winona,  Jamaica  Estates  were 
the  recreation  of  the  ideal.  How  we  cherish  the  unforgotten 
associations!  To  the  last  of  them  was  given  the  bridal 
benediction  by  this  marriage  on  August  thirtieth  to  Mabel 
Cornelia  Moulton  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

Miss  Moulton  was  the  daughter  of  David  C.  Moulton  and 
Ruth  W.  Potter,  both  of  the  lofty  lineage  that  has  given 
charm  and  dignity  to  the  best  of  our  old  New  England 
families. 

In  February,  1908,  Dr.  Chapman  had  conducted  a 
series  of  meetings  in  Providence,  and  on  the  thirteenth  of 
that  month  Miss  Moulton  saw  him  for  the  first  time  and 
heard  him  preach.  He  had  taken  for  his  text  Acts  19:2 — 
"Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed?"  It 
would  be  strange  indeed  if  she  were  not  moved  by  that 
soul-searching  sermon.  But  little  did  she  dream  that  she 
was  destined  of  God  to  be  his  companion  during  the  coming 
years  and  to  make  for  him  the  home  for  which  he  craved. 
Exactly  one  year  later,  on  the  thirteenth  of  February,  she 
was  in  Boston,  the  guest  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Norton  who  were 
associated  with  Dr.  Chapman  in  the  Boston  campaign. 
The  introduction  that  followed  was  the  beginning  of  a 
friendship  that  ripened  into  a  relationship  that  proved  to  be 
of  the  deepest  blessing  to  them  both.  The  marriage  took 
place  in  the  Providence  home,  and  after  a  brief  tour  through 
the  Berkshires  they  sailed  on  the  Lusitania  for  England 
where  they  were  the  guests  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  at 
Birmingham. 

The  summer  days  that  preceded  the  wedding  were 
supposed  to  be  days  of  rest  for  Dr.  Chapman,  but  a  vaca- 
tion in  reality  was  as  foreign- to  his  custom  as  to  his  nature. 
A  sketch  of  those  summer  days  will  serve  to  show  the 


212     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

manner  in  which  he  took  advantage  of  what  he  termed  his 
vacation  period. 

On  the  twelfth  of  June  he  preached  in  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church,  New  York;  on  the  fifteenth  he  was  in 
Tiffin,  Ohio;  on  the  seventeenth  he  celebrated  his  fifty-first 
birthday  by  a  motor  drive  to  Stony  Brook  with  Miss 
Moulton  and  his  friend  Mr.  Charles  H.  Denison;  on  the 
twenty-sixth  he  was  again  in  New  York,  and  preached  the 
opening  sermon  at  Tent  Evangel. 

On  July  third  he  preached  in  the  Fifth  Avenue  Church;  on 
the  fourth  he  motored  to  Springfield;  on  the  fifth  he  was 
back  at  Stony  Brook;  on  the  thirteenth  he  went  to  Provi- 
dence; the  fifteenth  he  spent  in  Boston;  the  sixteenth  in 
New  York;  on  the  seventeenth  he  preached  twice  in  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Church  and  once  for  his  friend  Dr.  John  F. 
Carson  in  the  Central  Church  of  Brooklyn;  on  the  twentieth 
he  was  in  Stony  Brook;  from  the  twenty-sixth  to  the  twenty- 
eighth  he  was  in  Providence;  on  the  twenty-ninth  at 
Mountain  Lake  Park,  Maryland. 

The  first  five  days  in  August  he  was  at  Chautauqua;  on 
the  seventh  he  was  in  New  York;  from  the  eighth  to  the 
tenth  in  Providence,  and  then  back  to  New  York.  During 
the  closing  days  of  August  he  was  engaged  in  preparation 
for  his  wedding. 

From  such  a  sketch  we  may  form  an  idea  of  his  ceaseless 
activity.  In  his  great  campaigns  lasting  sometimes  from 
six  to  eight  weeks  he  would  preach  from  three  to  six  times 
every  day,  and  then  in  the  intervening  period,  before  the 
next  campaign  began,  he  would  travel  to  all  parts  of  the 
country  in  fulfillment  of  engagements  previously  made. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  while  in  Birmingham  were 
entertained  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander.    Moseley  Hall,  the 


NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  TEN         213 

original  home  of  the  Cadburys,  had  long  since  been  turned 
into  a  Convalescent  Home  for  Children.  Uffculme,  one  of 
the  most  extensive  and  beautiful  of  modem  English  homes, 
had  become  the  possession  of  Mr.  Barrow  Cadbury,  Richard 
Cadbury's  eldest  son  who,  in  the  same  generous  spirit  as 
that  of  his  distinguished  father,  had  turned  the  great  man- 
sion into  a  centre  for  religious  conventions. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  were  received  in  the  home  known 
as  "Tennessee" — named  for  Mr.  Alexander's  native  state — 
which  was  located  not  far  from  Uffculme  and  perhaps 
within  sight  of  the  "ancient  yew-tree"  that  "had  been  a 
landmark  for  centuries,  and  a  historic  trysting-place  for 
lovers,  who  would  meet  there  to  pluck  and  exchange  their 
bits  of  dark  evergreen." 

"  Tennessee" — if  not  so  stately  and  palatial  as  Uffculme — 
was  none  the  less  attractive,  environed  by  an  air  of  welcome- 
ness  betokening  the  generous  hospitality  of  its  host  and 
hostess.  Their  failure  to  accimiulate  riches  will  not  be 
for  the  lack  of  open-handed  liberality. 

Miss  Beatrice  Cadbury  was  at  the  time  living  with  Mrs. 
Alexander.  Among  other  guests  were  Mr.  Robert  Harkness, 
the  musical  wizard,  who  had  been  discovered  by  Mr. 
Alexander  in  Bendigo,  Australia;  Mr.  W.  W.  Rock,  then  the 
efficient  secretary  of  Mr.  Alexander,  and  now  an  ordained 
minister  of  the  Gospel;  and  the  Rev.  George  T.  B.  Davis 
who,  as  its  International  Secretary,  has  rendered  such 
distinguished  service  in  the  promotion  of  the  Pocket  Testa- 
ment League  under  the  patronage  of  Mr.  Joseph  M. 
Steele  of  Philadelphia,  who,  with  his  associates,  organized  a 
Committee  for  the  purchase  and  distribution  of  Testa- 
ments among  the  American  soldiers  and  sailors. 

A  few  days  only  could  be  spent  in  the  delightful  fellow- 


214     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

ship  at  Birmingham.  Together  they  went  to  Warwick 
Castle,  the  stately  monument  of  England's  past  and  present 
nobility,  and  not  the  least  attractive  feature  was  the 
romantic  tradition  of  Guy,  the  noble  Earl,  on  whose  valour 
King  Athelstan  once  ''ventured  England's  Crown." 

The  first  services  held  in  England  were  in  Ipswich  at  a  con- 
ference previously  arranged  by  Dr.  Chapman  when,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year,  he  made  an  address  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  England.  Follow- 
ing that  address  he  had  received  invitations  from  all  parts  of 
England  to  conduct  conferences  similar  to  the  one  devised  for 
Ipswich.    Eight  services  were  held  during  the  three  days. 

His  next  engagement  was  at  Merthyr-Tydfil,  a  Welsh 
community,  with  representatives  of  the  Welsh  Forward 
Movement.  To  this  meeting  Dr.  Chapman  had  been 
invited  by  the  Presbyterians.  Eight  services  were  held  and 
the  churches  were  all  crowded  with  interested  and  enthusi- 
astic audiences. 

The  next  conference  was  held  in  Dundee,  Scotland.  The 
presiding  officer  at  this  conference  was  Lord  Kinnard,  a 
Presbyterian  layman  of  distinction,  who  had  been  a  friend 
of  Mr.  Moody  and  was  a  warm  supporter  of  all  evangelistic 
work.  The  most  important  of  the  services  in  Dundee  was 
with  the  ministers  representing  the  various  churches. 
This  conference  was  especially  attractive  to  Dr.  Chapman. 
Possibly  no  other  writing  had  more  deeply  moulded  his 
thought  than  Dr.  Andrew  A.  Bonar's  sketch  of  Robert 
Murray  McCheyne,  minister  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Dundee. 
When  this  consecrated  minister  died  **the  voice  of  weeping 
might  have  been  heard  in  almost  every  household."  His 
grave  is  near  "the  pulpit  from  which  he  had  so  often  and  so 
faithfully  proclaimed  the  Word  of  Life;  and  in  this,  his  lowly 


NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  TEN         215 

resting  place,  all  that  is  mortal  of  him  was  deposited  amid 
the  tears  and  sobs  of  the  crowd." 

For  years  Dr.  Chapman  had  desired  to  visit  this  grave  and 
perhaps  to  have  the  privilege  of  preaching  from  the  pulpit 
that  had  been  the  silent  witness  of  so  many  scenes  of  grace. 
He  conducted  ten  meetings  in  Dundee,  and  so  deep  was  the 
impression  that  he  was  invited  to  return  for  a  general 
mission. 

From  there  he  went  to  Oldham,  England,  for  a  day's 
conference.  He  gave  an  address  to  the  National  Police 
Association  and  in  connection  with  this  had  a  conference 
with  all  the  ministers  of  the  city.  Three  services  were 
held  on  that  one  day. 

Another  conference  was  held  in  Cardiff  lasting  one  day; 
but  the  greatest  enthusiasm  prevailed.  Six  months  had 
passed  since  his  former  mission  and  every  report  given  him 
concerning  its  permanency  was  most  gratifying. 

Two  services  were  then  held  at  Newport.  The  Presby- 
terians, with  other  denominational  ministers  participating, 
had  invited  him.  Two  services  were  held  each  with  great 
audiences  and  fruitful  results. 

A  final  conference  in  England  lasting  for  three  days  was 
held  at  Cheltenham.  The  large  Town  Hall  was  crowded  to 
overflowing. 

In  all  of  these  different  conferences  the  principles  en- 
dorsed by  the  American  Evangelistic  Committee  were 
plainly  presented  and  enthusiastically  endorsed  by  the 
English  and  Welsh  people. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  last  conference  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Chapman  made  a  fljring  visit  to  Birmingham,  and  then 
sailed  on  the  iMsitania  for  New  York,  arriving  on  Saturday, 
October  thirteenth. 


216     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

The  following  day,  on  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Edgar  W. 
Work,  Dr.  Chapman  filled  the  pulpit  of  the  Fourth  Church, 
New  York,  his  former  parish,  from  which  he  had  gone  out 
into  the  broader  field  of  evangelism. 

From  October  sixteenth  to  November  twenty-seventh  he 
conducted  a  Simultaneous  Campaign  in  Chicago,  Illinois. 
The  opening  service  was  held  on  Sunday  afternoon,  with  a 
sermon  based  on  the  Song  of  Solomon  6:10 — "Who  is  she 
that  looketh  forth  as  the  morning,  fair  as  the  moon,  clear 
as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners?"  Each 
day  thereafter  until  the  end  of  the  campaign,  with  one  or 
two  exceptions,  he  held  noon-day  meetings  in  the  Opera 
House,  and  conducted  an  evening  service  in  the  White 
City.  On  the  thirty-first  the  evening  meetings  were 
transferred  to  the  Wilson  Tabernacle  and  continued  there 
until  Sunday  the  sixth  of  November  when  they  were 
transferred  to  the  Austin  Tabernacle  where  the  great 
series  of  meetings  was  brought  to  a  close  on  Sunday  evening, 
November  twenty-seventh.  During  all  this  period  he 
preached  from  two  to  four  sermons  each  day. 

The  Chicago  meetings  were  followed  by  another  series  of 
three  weeks,  from  November  thirtieth  to  December 
eighteenth,  in  Ft.  Wayne,  Indiana.  Here  the  services 
began  in  the  Princess  Rink  with  an  opening  sermon  on 
Luke  22:44 — "And  being  in  an  agony  he  prayed  more 
earnestly;  and  his  sweat  was  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood 
falling  down  to  the  ground."  From  these  solemn  words  the 
preacher  with  singular  clearness  defined  the  unchangeable 
conditions  of  spiritual  victory. 

Both  at  Chicago  and  at  Ft.  Wayne  Dr.  Chapman 
preached  with  his  usual  intensity  of  fervour,  delivering  the 
same  sermons  that  had  made  such  deep  impressions  else- 


NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  TEN  217 

where;  yet,  for  some  reason,  both  these  campaigns  in  their 
spiritual  results  were  disappointing.  The  criticisms  levelled 
against  him  were  as  unjust  as  it  would  have  been  to  charge 
Joshua  with  the  defeat  at  Ai. 

Achan — with  his  ''Babylonish  garment  and  wedge  of 
gold'' — has  more  than  once  caused  Israel  *'to  turn  their 
backs  before  their  enemies." 

The  Valley  of  Achor  is  no  longer  the  place  of  retributive 
judgment,  and  for  spiritual  foiling  there  is  no  longer  avail- 
able such  counterpoise. 

It  would,  however,  be  unjust  to  Dr.  Chapman  to  charge 
him  with  absolute  defeat  in  any  of  the  campaigns  con- 
ducted by  him.  He  had  witnessed  such  marvellous  mani- 
festations of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  so  many  of  his  meetings 
that  he  felt  a  keen  disappointment  whenever  the  tide 
failed  to  reach  the  full  flood.  His  own  deep  heart-searchings 
disclosed  no  loss  of  devotion  to  the  Cross  of  Christ.  The 
cause  of  comparative  failure  could  generally  be  traced  to 
lack  of  genuine  cooperation  on  the  part  of  those  who  had 
pledged  themselves  to  support  him.  He  sowed  bountifully 
and  expected  a  proportionable  harvest.  No  one  grieved 
more  sincerely  than  he  when  such  harvests  were  not  reaped. 

The  Christmas  holidays  were  spent  with  relatives  in 
Springfield,  Massachusetts,  and  in  Providence,  Rhode 
Island.  In  such  happy  environment  he  could  rest  and 
contemplate  with  satisfaction  the  garnered  harvest  of  a 
fruitful  year. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD 

During  the  year  1911  Dr.  Chapman,  endued  and  com- 
missioned by  the  Holy  Spirit,  continued  to  exert  at  home 
and  abroad  his  extraordinary  personal  power  to  win  people 
to  Christ. 

Sunday,  January  first,  he  was  with  relatives  in  Springfield, 
Massachusetts.  On  that  morning,  at  a  communion  service 
in  the  Faith  Congregational  Church,  he  preached  from  a 
text  taken  from  the  Song  of  Solomon. 

On  Thursday  the  fifth,  in  Toronto,  Canada,  he  opened  the 
first  campaign  which  continued  until  the  end  of  the  month. 
The  evening  meetings  were  held  in  Massey  Hall.  Noon- 
day and  afternoon  services  were  conducted  in  the  Metropol- 
itan and  other  city  churches.  One  evening  he  spoke  at 
Knox  College,  presenting — ''The  Claims  of  the  Ministry." 
On  Tuesday  afternoon  the  twenty-fourth,  in  Massey  Hall, 
he  held  for  "aged  people"  one  of  those  unique  services 
which  had  come  to  be  a  marked  feature  of  the  Simultaneous 
Campaign. 

One  of  the  religious  papers,  summing  up  the  results  of  the 
campaign,  emphatically  stated  that  Dr.  Chapman  had  not 
received  the  support  he  had  every  right  to  expect.  Atten- 
tion also  was  drawn  to  the  fact  that,  during  the  course  of 
the  meetings,  concerts  and  banquets  and  lectures  and  busi- 
ness meetings  and  other  entertainments  had  been  held 
in  several  of  the  churches,  and  that  many  of  the  most  promi- 

218 


AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  219 

nent  of  the  official  members  of  the  churches  had  never 
attended  any  of  the  evangelistic  meetings.  Dr.  Chapman 
in  his  report  to  the  Evangelistic  Committee  declared  that 
those  churches  that  had  entered  upon  the  movement  with 
consecration  and  enthusiasm  had  reaped  an  abundant  har- 
vest, but  that  other  churches  whose  cooperation  was  lack- 
ing obtained  only  meagre  results  and  by  them  judged  the 
whole  movement.  He  concluded  his  report  on  this  cam- 
paign by  saying:  "I  shall  never  again  visit  a  community 
without  I  have  the  assurance  that  all  the  ministers  going 
into  the  campaign  will  support  me  with  the  same  enthusiasm 
that  I  myself  put  into  the  work." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Toronto  campaign  he  returned 
to  New  York,  and  on  Thursday,  February  second,  conducted 
in  the  Clermont  Rink  the  first  service  of  his  Brooklyn 
campaign. 

Dr.  John  F.  Carson,  Dr.  Clelland  B.  McAfee,  and  Dr.  S. 
Edward  Young  were  at  the  time  members  of  the  Assembly's 
Evangelistic  Committee  and  gave  their  undivided  support 
to  the  local  Committee  of  which  Dr.  Robert  Bagnell  was 
the  general  Chairman  and  Mr.  James  H.  Post  the  Treasurer, 
who  with  his  aides  collected  and  disbursed  nearly  thirty 
thousand  dollars.  Something  over  two  hundred  churches 
took  part  in  the  movement  and  these  were  arranged  in 
twenty-four  separate  groups  according  to  locality  and 
practically  covering  the  whole  of  the  two  boroughs  of  Brook- 
lyn and  Queens.  Each  group  had  its  separate  organization 
with  its  corresponding  committees,  and  to  each  section 
there  was  assigned  an  evangelist  and  a  song  leader  who 
selected  and  trained  his  own  choir. 

The  central  meetings  conducted  by  Dr.  Chapman  and 
Mr.  Alexander,  with  Mr.  Harkness  and  Mr.  Naftzger,  were 


220     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

held  each  evening  in  the  Clermont  Avenue  Rink,  while  at 
noon  great  meetings  were  held  each  day  in  the  Grand  Opera 
House  where  the  seating  capacity  was  taxed  to  its  limit. 

Acres  of  space  were  absorbed  in  display  headline  advertis- 
ing, in  posters  two  feet  by  four  on  every  elevated  railroad 
platform  and  other  concourse  throughout  the  city.  Widest 
publicity  was  also  given  through  the  secular  and  religious 
press.  Some  papers  devoted  entire  pages  to  the  reports 
of  the  campaign  graphically  illustrated  by  photographs. 

Dr.  Chapman's  text  for  the  opening  at  the  Rink  was  the 
eighth  verse  of  the  eighth  chapter  of  Acts — ''And  there  was 
great  joy  in  that  city."  He  sounded  the  kejmote  of  the 
joy  that  prevailed  during  the  entire  period  of  the  campaign, 
which  in  some  respects  was  greater  in  spiritual  results  than 
those  of  any  religious  awakening  the  churches  had  ever 
before  known.  With  unabated  vigour  the  meetings  went 
on  until  the  twenty-eighth  of  February.  The  reportorial 
accounts  still  preserved  in  the  files  of  the  daily  newspapers 
indicated  the  general  public  interest  in,  and  sjmipathy  with, 
the  movement. 

The  reporters  themselves  were  sometimes  under  deep 
conviction  of  sin  and,  as  in  Boston  and  in  other  places,  there 
was  the  evidence  of  conversion  among  this  body  of  men  more 
accustomed  to  picture  sin  and  the  sorrows  of  humanity  than 
to  record  the  story  of  the  salvation  of  men. 

On  the  day  before  the  meetings  began — though  indirectly 
a  solemn  preparation  for  them — there  was  a  terrific  explos- 
ion on  the  New  Jersey  shore  of  New  York  Bay.  Two  car- 
loads of  trinitrotoluol  were  being  transferred  to  a  vessel 
for  export  when  suddenly  the  tremendous  explosion  took 
place.  The  number  of  lives  lost  seems  never  to  have  been 
determined.    Something  like  five  hundred  thousand  dollars' 


AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  221 

worth  of  plate-glass  was  shattered  throughout  lower  New 
York  and  Brooklyn  Heights.  This  was  the  absorbing  topic 
for  the  newspapers  and  for  conversation  throughout  the 
city,  and  so  terrific  a  detonation  awakened  the  community 
to  serious  thought. 

The  meetings  were  restricted  in  the  sphere  of  their  in- 
fluence by  a  persistent  "nor'easter"  storm  alternating  with 
snow  and  sleet.  The  Rink  as  a  place  for  evangelistic  meet- 
ings was  also  limited  in  its  facilities,  with  a  very  poor  place 
for  the  after-meetings  where  personal  and  the  most  effective 
work  is  done.  Despite  these  things  the  results  of  the  cam- 
paign were  such  as  to  encourage  and  cheer  the  heart  of  Dr. 
Chapman  who  in  his  report  to  the  Evangelistic  Committee 
refers  to  this  movement  in  words  of  sincere  appreciation. 

The  support  given  to  me  by  the  ministers;  the  rallying  to  my  side  of 
practically  all  the  Presbyterian  ministers  in  the  city;  the  evident  pres- 
ence of  the  Spirit  of  God;  the  very  remarkable  meetings  that  were 
held  on  some  occasions;  the  mid-day  services  in  the  theatres,  and  the 
general  impression  made  upon  Brooklyn,  I  shall  never  forget,  nor  can  I 
ever  cease  to  be  grateful  to  God  for  the  privilege  He  gave  me  there. 
The  members  of  our  Committee,  Doctor  Carson,  Doctor  Young,  and 
Doctor  McAfee,  never  gave  an  evangelist  greater  support  than  they 
gave  me.  I  shall  never  cease  to  be  grateful  to  tlvem  for  the  satis- 
faction they  gave  me  by  the  confidence  of  their  support  while  I  was  in 
Brooklyn. 

The  day  following  the  Brooklyn  campaign  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Chapman  sailed  on  the  Lasitania  for  Liverpool.  Several 
hundred  Brooklyn  people,  led  by  a  Salvation  Army  band, 
were  on  the  dock  to  bid  them  farewell  and  to  speed  them  on 
their  journey. 

On  Sunday,  March  fifth.  Dr.  Chapman  preached  in  the 
saloon  of  the  steamer,  giving  an  exposition  of  the  Twenty- 
third  Psalm. 


222     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

On  the  ninth  of  March  the  mission  opened  in  Swansea, 
Wales,  continuing  to  and  including  the  fourth  of  April.  Dr. 
Chapman  and  his  associates  were  installed  and  made  most 
comfortable  in  a  fine  old  Welsh  residence  known  as  "Heath- 
cote"  turned  over  by  its  hospitable  owners  for  the  use  of  the 
party  while  in  Swansea. 

The  city  with  a  population  of  less  than  one  hundred  thou- 
sand people  is  a  parliamentary  borough  of  Glamorgan 
County  on  the  south  coast,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tawe  River. 
Its  principal  production  is  coal  which  is  possessed  of  certain 
distinctive  qualities  that  adapt  it  especially  to  the  finer 
grades  of  smelting.  The  production  of  iron  and  steel  is 
limited,  but  in  that  of  silver,  zinc,  lead,  and  tin,  Swansea 
excels,  and  especially  in  copper;  and,  adding  her  imports 
to  her  production,  she  supplies  England  with  seven  eighths 
of  its  consumption  and  holds  the  rank  of  being  one  of  the 
leading  copper  ports  of  the  world.  The  miners  of  Swansea, 
like  the  Welsh  people  in  general,  are  lovers  of  order  and 
neatness  and  despite  their  occupation  are  devoted  to  cleanli- 
ness. The  gardens  that  surround  their  homes  are  blooming 
and  bonny.  Their  children  are  tidy  and  trained  in  school. 
Swansea  delights  in  the  antiquity  of  her  churches,  and  the 
people  reverently  attend  all  meetings.  They  are  peculiarly 
responsive  to  the  religious  appeal. 

Dr.  Chapman  in  his  report  of  the  Swansea  meeting  says: 

In  some  respects  this  has  been  the  best  mission  I  have  ever  con- 
ducted. I  think  I  have  learned  much  about  evangelistic  work  during 
this  season.  The  chief  lesson  being  that  too  much  emphasis  cannot 
be  placed  upon  individual  effort  on  behalf  of  the  unsaved.  Literally 
hundreds  of  people  were  won  to  Christ  by  personal  invitation,  some  of 
them  never  came  to  the  meetings  at  all.  One  prominent  business  man 
was  approached  four  times  in  a  single  morning  by  his  Christian  friends, 
and  the  fourth  invitation  won  him.    Entire  households  were  con- 


AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  223 

verted.  The  estimate  of  the  work  is  best  expressed  by  the  letter  given 
me  by  the  united  ministers  of  the  city.  The  Chairman  of  our  Com- 
mittee was  the  Vicar  of  Swansea,  a  most  distinguished  man,  represen- 
tative of  one  of  the  best  old  English  families,  and  one  of  the  truest  men 
I  have  ever  known. 

The  letter  referred  to  above,  which  is  signed  by  W. 
Talbot  Rice,  Vicar  of  Swansea,  S.  Louis  Wame,  President 
of  the  English  Free  Church  Council,  D.  Picton  Evans, 
President  of  the  Welsh  Church  Council,  and  forty-two  clergy 
and  ministers  of  Swansea,  is  as  follows: 

Swansea,  April,  1911. 

Dear  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander, 

We  feel  that  we  cannot  let  you  leave  Swansea  without  expressing  to 
you  the  deep  sense  of  thankfulness  to  God,  that  fills  our  hearts,  for  the 
great  things  we  have  seen  and  felt  and  heard  during  the  weeks  of  the 
solemn  and  hopeful  mission  which  you  have  held  here. 

We  are  deeply  grateful  for  the  way  you  have  thought  of,  and  worked 
for,  every  section  of  the  community.  The  poor  and  the  outcast,  the 
young  men  and  women,  the  children,  and  the  aged  and  infirm,  the 
business  men,  the  Christian  workers,  the  church  officers,  and  the  clergy 
and  ministers,  have  all  received  your  faithful  and  loving  messages  or 
those  of  your  fellow  workers.  A  new  sense  of  responsibility  for  the 
salvation  of  others  has  come  into  many  lives,  and  a  beginning  of  defi- 
nite personal  effort  to  win  others  has  been  made  by  many.  Parents 
have  felt  anew  the  care  which  they  should  have  for  the  souls  of  their 
children.  Friend  has  felt  it  for  friend,  and  boys  for  other  boys.  The 
Pocket  Testament  League  has  recalled  many  to  the  treasure  they  have 
in  God's  Word  for  their  own  growth  in  grace,  and  in  the  work  of  win- 
ning others  to  Jesus  Christ. 

It  has  filled  us  with  thanksgiving  to  God  that  large  numbers  have 
taken  the  definite  step  of  openly  accepting  Christ  for  their  Saviour  and 
Master.  We  are  deeply  moved  by  the  way  you  have  sought  to  help 
us  personally  in  our  spiritual  life,  and  in  the  more  effective  fulfilling  of 
our  ministry.  You  have  considered  us  in  every  way  and  have  re- 
minded us  that  the  work  done  through  the  mission  can  only  last  in 
living  activity  and  devotion  of  the  church  and  of  the  ministers. 

We  invited  you  to  come  and  help  us  in  the  full  confidence  that  you 


224     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

were  called  of  God  to  the  work  to  which  you  had  given  your  life. 
The  mission  has  confirmed  our  confidence  in  you  and  compels  us  to 
acknowledge  with  the  deepest  gratitude  your  work  and  labour  of  love, 
in  which  you  have  given  us  your  best  with  much  self-sacrifice. 

We  shall  follow  your  work  in  other  places  and  in  other  countries 
with  many  prayers,  and  grateful  interest,  and  we  hope  that  we  may 
sometimes  find  a  place  in  your  own  intercessions  as  we  endeavour  with 
patient  zeal,  and  earnest  faith,  to  carry  on  the  work  and  extend  what 
has  been  done  during  this  month  of  wonderful  blessing. 


Another  letter  received  by  Dr.  Chapman  reads  as  follows: 

Brooklands,  Swansea, 

April  7th,  1911. 
Dear  Doctor  Chapman, 

I  have  here  two  names  to  add  to  those  who  have  already  signed  the 
letter  to  you  and  to  Mr.  Alexander.  The  Rev.  D.  Akrill  Jones,  Vicar 
of  Skeety;  the  Rev.  W.  Evans,  Vicar  of  St.  Thomas.  There  was  a  very 
good  meeting  last  night.  The  hall  was  packed.  The  message  given 
was  excellent  and  the  card  you  arranged  to  be  given  out  was  much 
appreciated.  Thank  you  with  all  my  heart  for  your  devoted  labours 
among  us.  It  has  been  a  memorable  time  and  will  bear  much  fruit. 
A  revival  of  Bible  study  and  a  personal  interest  in  the  soul  welfare  of 
others  has  begun,  and  the  work  with  such  a  foundation  will  stand  the 
strain  of  time. 

Your  self-sacrifice  and  willingness  has  impressed  everyone  and  your 
wisdom  in  dealing  with  the  different  classes  of  people  has  made  you  win 
your  way  among  us  in  a  remarkable  manner.  Words  of  faith,  strong, 
and  clear,  and  true,  have  been  spoken,  and  have  commended  them- 
selves to  men's  consciences  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Thanksgiving  to  God  on  your  behalf  will  go  up  from  very  many 
hearts  continually.  May  God  give  you  all  needed  grace  to  carry  for- 
ward the  blessed  work  you  have  undertaken. 

Yours  very  sincerely. 

Signed     W.  Talbot  Rice. 

It  was  estimated  that  two  thousand  people  were  con- 
verted. 
The  meetings  were  continuous  with  the  exception  of  one 


AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  225 

day,  Thursday,  March  twenty-third,  when  Dr.  Chapman 
and  Mr.  Alexander  went  to  London  to  conduct  a  service 
for  the  National  Police  Association  which  had  arranged  a 
meeting  to  be  held  in  Westminster  Hall.  The  crowd  was 
enormous.  Many  representative  people  were  present,  and 
at  the  evening  service  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  police 
officers  dedicated  themselves  anew  to  Christ  and  twelve 
made  profession  of  their  acceptance  of  Christ  as  their 
Saviour. 

The  meetings  in  Swansea  closed  on  Tuesday,  April  fourth, 
with  a  morning  meeting  at  St.  James's  Hall,  a  service  im- 
mediately after  luncheon  at  the  Coal  Exchange,  an  after- 
noon meeting  in  Albert  Hall,  and  a  closing  service  in  the 
same  place. 

Early  the  following  morning  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr. 
Alexander  went  to  Nantymoel,  a  village  in  Wales  where  the 
Sjmod  of  the  Welsh  Calvanistic  Church  was  in  session.  Dr. 
Chapman  was  introduced  as  the  representative  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States.  He  was  received  most  cordially  as  shown  in  the 
following  communication  addressed  to  the  General  As- 
sembly: 

Bronwydd,  Mold,  Flintshire,  Wales, 

April  21,  1911. 
Rev.  W.  H.  Roberts,  D.D.,  Secretary  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 

Presbyterian  Church  in  U.  S.  A.: 
Dear  and  Rev.  Sir: 

At  the  Quarterly  Synod  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodists  of  South 
"Wales,  held  at  Nantymoel,  in  the  County  of  Glamorgan,  April  4, 5,  and 
6,  1911,  the  following  resolution  in  appreciation  of  the  valuable  ser- 
vices rendered  by  Doctor  Chapman,  Mr.  Alexander  and  party,  to 
religion  in  Wales  was  passed: 

The  Synod  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodists,  held  at  Nantymoel, 
Glamorgan,  April  4-6,  1911,  the  Rev.  Rhys  Morgan  being  Moderator, 


226     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

extends  a  cordial  welcome  to  Doctor  Chapman,  Mr.  Alexander,  and 
their  fellow-labourers,  and  expresses  its  deep  gratitude  for  their  visit. 

The  Synod  further  acknowledges  the  grace  of  God  in  the  great 
success  of  their  mission  to  Wales,  as  well  as  the  Apostolic  purity  of 
Doctor  Chapman's  ministry,  his  unfailing  fidelity  to  the  ministers, 
with  his  intense  passion  for  exalting  the  Church,  and  making  it  the 
instrument  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  win  the  world  to  our  Lord  and 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Synod  further  desires  to  record  its  thanks  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America 
for  allowing  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  and  their  fellow- 
labourers  to  visit  Wales. 

It  also  expresses  the  hope  that  they  may  be  permitted  in  the  near 
future  to  visit  many  other  centres  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

On  behalf  of  the  Synod,  I  have  the  honour  and  privilege  of  for- 
warding you  the  above  resolution,  which  I  trust  you  will  be  good 
enough  to  convey  to  your  Assembly. 

Yours,  in  the  Master's  service, 

G.  Parry  Williams, 
Secretary  of  Synod. 

Following  the  meeting  with  the  Welsh  Synod  Dr.  Chap- 
man and  Mr.  Alexander,  in  response  to  an  invitation  given 
them  by  the  Presbyterian  ministers,  went  to  Belfast.  They 
met  the  ministers  at  noon,  on  April  sixth,  in  the  Assembly 
Hall.  Former  Moderators  were  present  together  with  the 
Chairman  of  the  Evangelistic  Committee  and  the  proposed 
Moderator  for  the  ensuing  year.  Dr.  Chapman  declared 
that  never  before  had  he  attended  a  more  impressive  meet- 
ing for  ministers.  Both  afternoon  and  evening  the  As- 
sembly Hall,  one  of  the  most  attractive  auditoriums  in  Bel- 
fast, was  filled  to  overflowing.  The  response  was  electric 
and  fervent,  with  many  conversions.  An  urgent  invitation 
to  return  on  some  future  day  was  given,  with  the  assurance 
''that  all  Ireland  would  be  open." 

Dr.  Roberts,  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly,  re- 
ceived a  communication  as  follows: 


AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  227 

To  THE  Venerable  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 

Church,  America: 
Dear  Brethren: 

On  behalf  of  a  large  meeting  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  labouring 
chiefly  in  Belfast  and  neighbourhood,  we  beg  to  approach  your  Vener- 
able Assembly,  with  the  assurance  of  our  sincere  fraternal  regard  and 
our  warmest  wishes  for  the  Divine  Blessing  to  rest  increasingly  upon 
the  great  work  you  have  been  doing  for  the  evangelization  of  America. 
In  the  providence  of  God,  one  of  your  ministers  (Rev.  Dr.  J.  Wilbur 
Chapman)  has  paid  us  a  brief  visit,  on  which  occasion  he  delivered  a 
very  inspiring  and  suggestive  address,  bearing  chiefly  upon  the  atti- 
tude of  the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  the  world  toward  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  masses.  Our  meeting  was  so  struck  with  the  earnestness 
and  Christian  statesmanship  displayed  in  Doctor  Chapman's  message, 
that  they  felt  that  they  should  express  to  you  their  deep  sense  of  his 
value,  and  of  the  blessing  that  you  have  been  conferring  upon  the 
Presbyterian  Churches  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  by  setting  him  free 
to  devote  his  many  gifts  toward  the  propagating  of  these  lofty  ideals 
and  to  do,  as  he  is  well-fitted  by  his  outstanding  gifts  of  head  and 
heart,  the  work  of  an  evangelist. 

We  feel  that  we  owe  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  America  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  for  setting  this  gifted 
member  of  their  communion  free,  not  only  to  do  aggressive  work 
beyond  the  bounds  of  American  Presbyter ianism,  but  to  suggest  to 
his  brethren  in  the  ministry  better  methods  of  carrying  on  the  great 
evangelistic  work  which  the  Presbyterian  Churches,  through  the 
Divine  blessing,  are  calculated  to  carry  on. 

Again  assuring  you  of  our  deep  interest  in  the  work  which  the  great 
King  and  Head  of  our  Church  is  enabling  you  to  accomplish. 
We  are,  on  behalf  of  the  above  meeting, 

Yours  fraternally. 
Signed  J.  McIlveen,  D.D., 

Chairman  and  Ex-Moderator  of  General  Assembly. 

Samuel  Lindsay,  M.A. 
Convenor  of  Assembly's  Committee  on  the  State  of 
Religion  and  Evangelization. 

A.  J.  Wilson, 
Clerk  of  Presbytery  of  Belfast. 

Henry  Montgomery,  M.A. 
Secretary  for  Rev.  Dr.  Chapman. 
General  Assembly's  Offices,  Belfast,  Ireland, 
20th  day  of  April,  1911 


228     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

From  Belfast  Dr.  Chapman  returned  to  England,  and  on 
Saturday  evening,  April  eighth,  at  Leeds,  he  preached  in  the 
Oxford  Place  Wesleyan  Chapel.  The  following  morning 
he  occupied  the  pulpit  of  the  Trinity  Presbyterian  Church, 
preaching  on  the  "Golden  Bells,"  suggested  by  Exodus 
28:33.  In  the  afternoon  and  evening  of  that  Sunday 
great  meetings  were  held  in  the  Coliseum.  The  following 
morning  at  9:30  he  addressed  the  ministers  of  the  city  in  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Hall.  At  noon  he  was  at  the  Belgrave  Chapel. 
In  the  afternoon  he  was  again  in  the  Oxford  Place  Wesleyan 
Chapel  and  with  an  evening  service  in  the  same  church 
brought  the  engagement  to  a  close. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  ministers  in  Leeds  the  President  of  the 
Free  Church  Council  testified  that  a  new  blessing  had 
come  into  his  life,  and  that  on  Sunday — the  day  before — he 
could  not  finish  his  sermon  because  of  the  emotion  that  had 
overpowered  him.  One  minister  said:  "I  have  not  since 
the  day  of  my  conversion  been  so  greatly  moved  by  the 
power  of  God.  I  do  thank  you  with  all  my  heart  for 
coming." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  meetings  in  Leeds,  Dr.  Chapman 
and  Mrs.  Chapman  went  to  London  for  a  few  days'  rest, 
after  which  they  were  once  more  the  guests  of  the  Alex- 
anders in  their  beautiful  home  at  Birmingham. 

On  Easter  Sunday,  which  occurred  that  year  on  April 
sixteenth.  Dr.  Chapman  spoke  afternoon  and  evening  at 
the  Cadbury  Institute,  one  of  the  fine  monuments  that 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  Richard  Cadbury's  generosity. 

From  the  twentieth  to  the  twenty-eighth  of  April  a  series 
of  meetings  was  conducted  by  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr. 
Alexander  in  the  Music  Hall  of  Shrewsbury,  the  capital  of 
Shropshire.    The  city  is  almost  encircled  by  the  Severn, 


AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  229 

England's  most  picturesque  river.  It  is  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  from  "The  Bore"  where,  in  its  estuary,  below 
Gloucester,  the  river's  current  runs  fourteen  miles  an  hour, 
carrying  tides  of  thirty  to  forty  feet  rise.  At  Shrewsbury, 
after  tumbling  in  many  pellucid  streams  adown  the  great 
gorges  of  Plinlimmon,  it  flows  calmly  until  Hafren  con- 
tributes its  torrent  with  the  springs  from  the  strands  of 
Llanidloes,  whence  it  drains  six  thousand  square  miles 
of  garden  land— a  challenge  by  its  beauty  to  poet  and 
painter. 

The  party  was  entertained  at  one  of  the  old-fashioned  yet 
comfortable  English  hotels  which,  like  many  another,  has 
been  standing  for  generations  a  monument  to  the  warm 
hospitality  of  its  people.  In  contrast  with  this  there  was  an 
apathy  and  lack  of  response,  quickly  and  keenly  perceived 
by  Dr.  Chapman,  that  threatened  to  restrict  if  not  to  thwart 
his  purpose. 

One  day,  to  his  surprise  perhaps,  he  received  word  that  a 
certain  missionary  was  coming  to  Shrewsbury  to  intercede 
for  blessing. 

On  the  very  day  of  the  arrival  of  this  missionary  at  least 
fifty  people  responded  to  the  invitation  to  give  themselves 
to  Christ.  Such  remarkable  and  effective  intervention  was 
not  uncommon.  In  this  particular  instance  it  may  be 
interesting  to  know  that  the  interceding  missionary  was 
none  other  than  an  American  who  had  been  the  instrument 
of  a  gracious  revival  that  had  swept  over  India,  and  who 
then  and  has  since  been  known  as  *' Praying  Hyde." 

Dr.  Chapman  sent  a  message  desiring  to  see  him.  He 
came  to  the  hotel  and  after  a  few  minutes'  conversation 
offered  to  pray.  Dr.  Chapman,  relating  the  incident, 
says: 


230     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

He  knelt  beside  me.  He  was  still  for  several  moments.  I  was 
tempted  to  open  my  eyes,  and  I  saw  his  face  lighted  up  with  the  light 
of  heaven,  his  lips  trembling,  and  his  tears  starting.  Then  he  said 
something  like  this — "  My  Father,  here  is  a  minister  who  sorely  needs 
Thy  help,  do  bless  him,  I  beseech  Thee,  may  his  life  be  precious  in  Thy 
sight.  May  he  be  girded  anew  with  strength  for  service;  may  Jesus 
Christ  become  more  real  to  him"— Then  he  was  still  again  for  a  little 
while,  and  when  the  closing  words  of  the  prayer  were  said,  we  arose 
from  our  knees,  and  I  had  learned  a  never-to-be-forgotten  lesson  con- 
cerning intercession. 


The  following  day  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  sailed  from 
Liverpool,  arriving  in  New  York  on  May  fifth. 

The  next  five  months  were  another  crowded  period 
during  which  Dr.  Chapman  kept  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
specific  engagements  and  travelled  throughout  the  United 
States  many  thousands  of  miles. 

During  his  absence  in  Europe  the  new  home  at  Jamaica 
Estates  had  been  under  construction  and  was  now  nearly 
ready  for  occupancy.  On  their  arrival  in  New  York  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Chapman  naturally  turned  their  attention  to  this 
home  for  their  removal  to  it. 

Flying  visits  were  made  to  Springfield  and  to  Ocean  Grove, 
and  on  the  fifteenth  of  May  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  were  the 
guests  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Brownson  at  Media,  Pennsylvania. 

The  General  Assembly  convened  that  year  in  Atlantic 
City,  and  on  the  nineteenth  of  May  Dr.  Chapman  was 
present  to  make  an  address  on  Evangelism,  and  to  advocate 
the  greater  movement  in  which  his  heart  was  still  centred. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Assembly  they  went  to  Provi- 
dence, from  thence  to  Springfield;  after  which  they  took  a 
short  motor  trip  through  the  Berkshires,  and  on  the  thirty- 
first  of  the  month  they  were  established  in  their  beautiful 
new  home.    Multiple  engagements  precluded  a  prolonged 


AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  231 

stay,  and  on  June  seventh  they  started  west  to  fulfill  an 
engagement  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  En  route  they  stopped  at 
Warsaw,  and  at  Chicago  joined  the  leaders  of  the  Inter- 
national Sunday  School  Association,  at  whose  invitation 
they  were  to  attend  the  Sunday  School  Convention  at  San 
Francisco.  On  June  eleventh  at  Kansas  City  Dr.  Chap- 
man addressed  the  World's  Conference  of  the  Baracca  and 
Philathea.  At  Albuquerque  the  city  gave  the  delegation  a 
luncheon. 

On  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  they  were  in  Los 
Angeles  where  Dr.  Chapman  made  four  addresses.  He 
also  spoke  twelve  times  at  the  Thirteenth  International 
Sunday  School  Convention  held  in  the  Coliseum  at  San 
Francisco.  Immediately  following  this  convention  they 
started  east,  arriving  at  home  July  first,  and  on  the  following 
day,  which  was  Sunday,  he  preached  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Jamaica.  On  the  seventh  and  eighth  of  that 
month  he  conducted  the  sunrise  services  for  the  Christian 
Endeavour  Convention  at  Atlantic  City,  and  on  the  following 
three  Sundays,  preached  in  the  Madison  Avenue  Baptist 
Church  of  New  York  City.  The  intervening  days  of  the 
week  he  gave  every  night  to  Tent  Evangel,  New  York.  At 
the  end  of  the  month  he  was  at  the  Bible  Training  School 
in  Binghamton,  following  with  a  week  at  Chautauqua. 
From  Chautauqua  he  went  to  Winona,  and  during  the  third 
week  of  August  he  was  at  the  Stony  Brook  Assembly. 
This  was  followed  by  services  at  Mount  Gretna,  Montrose, 
Winona,  and  Laurel  Park;  which  kept  him  busy  until  the 
third  week  of  September  when  in  Philadelphia  he  made  an 
address  before  the  employees  of  the  Stetson  Hat  Company. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  September  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chap- 
man sailed  on  the  Celtic  for  Queenstown,  arriving  in  the 


232     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

early  morning  of  October  sixth.  The  following  day  they 
came  to  Belfast  for  the  evangelistic  meetings  that  were  to 
continue  until  November  tenth. 

Ireland  in  her  geological  structure  has  a  western  and 
eastern  range  of  hills  with  a  great  basin  between.  These 
hills  may  not  be  termed  ranges  but  seem  rather  to  be 
broken  masses  of  rocks,  possibly  related  to  the  great  spurs 
that  make  up  the  highlands  of  Scotland.  The  inclosed  vast 
tracts  of  morass,  of  which  the  Bog  of  Allen,  in  West  Meath, 
Kildare,  Carlow,  King  and  Queens,  absorbs  nearly  three 
millions  of  acres;  and  they  enclose  large  portions  of  wet  land 
in  Longford,  Rosscommon,  and  other  counties.  With  the 
warm  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream  sweeping  around  her 
Ireland  is  kept  in  a  state  of  perennial  verdure  justifying  her 
claim  to  be  the  "Emerald  Isle." 

Such  environment  has  doubtless  played  its  part  in  the 
temperament  and  characteristics  of  the  people  from  whom 
Dr.  Chapman  received  as  cordial  and  enthusiastic  support 
as  from  any  people  he  had  ever  visited.  With  deep  affection 
he  remembered  the  sincere  cooperation  of  Sir  Robert  and 
Lady  Anderson  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  N.  McLaughlin. 

Mr.  McLaughlin  was  Ulster  bom,  educated  in  Belfast, 
and  at  the  head  of  the  engineering  and  contracting  firm  with 
branches  in  Dublin,  London,  and  Edinburgh.  Great 
chui'ch  buildings,  city  banks,  linen  mills,  factories,  the  great 
plant  of  the  British  Aluminum  Company  including  the 
whole  town  of  Kinlochleven,  are  among  the  monuments  of 
his  skill.  With  splendid  enthusiasm  he  gave  himself 
unreservedly  to  the  support  of  Dr.  Chapman,  followed  him 
from  one  place  to  another  through  Ireland,  and  afterward 
went  with  him  to  Australia. 

Sir  Robert  Anderson,  the  venerable  Ex-Mayor  of  Belfast, 


AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  233 

was  equally  enthusiastic  and  earnest  in  his  support,  whether 
in  the  great  meetings  held  in  the  Assembly  Hall  or  in  less 
conspicuous  places  of  cooperation.  His  fine  moral  in- 
fluence was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  great  host  of  his 
employees  who  under  his  inspiration  attended  the  services 
in  large  numbers.  He  also  accompanied  Dr.  Chapman  to 
Australia,  as  did  Mr.  A.  Hope  Robertson  of  Glasgow,  an 
intimate  friend  of  Mr.  McLaughlin  on  whose  invitation  he 
had  come  to  Belfast  to  attend  the  meetings. 

During  the  Belfast  campaign  Dr.  Chapman  wrote  the 
words  of  the  inspiring  hymn — "Hail,  All  Hail,"  to  which 
Mr.  Harkness  set  the  appropriate  music.  The  hymn  was 
copyrighted  by  Mr.  Alexander  and  has  since  become 
exceedingly  popular.  Other  hymns  were  bom  under  the 
inspiration  of  that  great  movement. 

The  Rev.  J.  Kennedy  MacLean,  editor  of  the  Life  of 
Faith,  through  that  sound  evangelical  weekly,  loyally 
supported  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander,  and  has  written 
a  brief  but  charming  story  of  their  lives. 

Of  the  beginning  of  the  work  in  Belfast  Dr.  Chapman 
said: 

I  remember  my  first  experience  in  Belfast,  Ireland.  I  was  practi- 
cally unknown  to  the  people  and  I  was  nervous  and  afraid.  The  night 
of  our  first  meeting  was  rainy  and  disagreeable.  The  Secretary  of 
the  meeting  came  to  our  hotel  for  us,  and  we  were  riding  in  an  old- 
fashioned  cab  to  the  place  of  the  meeting,  the  rain  beating  against  the 
glass  windows  of  the  cab,  when  my  friend  seated  opposite  us  leaned  for- 
ward, removed  his  hat,  put  his  hand  on  my  knee  and  broke  into  prayer, 
saying  something  like  this:  "Our  Father,  bless  our  dear  friend  in  this 
first  meeting  in  Belfast.  He  is  a  stranger  to  many  of  the  people  and  do 
not  let  him  be  afraid.  Make  him  feel  at  home  to-night  because  we 
all  love  the  Lord  together." 

And  when  he  finished  his  prayer  there  were  tears  in  his  eyes  and 
answering  tears  in  mine. 


234     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

The  campaign  continued  for  a  month.  The  main  ser- 
vices were  held  in  the  Auditorium  of  the  Presbyterian 
General  Assembly  of  Ireland.  This,  with  its  two  galleries 
around  three  quarters  of  the  great  ellipse,  seated  comfort- 
ably about  three  thousand.  More  than  four  thousand 
people  attempted  to  pack  themselves  into  it,  many  of  them 
compelled  to  stand  for  hours,  a  human  frieze  around  its 
walls,  making  its  window  benches  look  statuesque,  while  the 
platform  steps  were  filled,  and  overflow  meetings  were 
held  in  neighbouring  churches.  Other  important  services 
were  held  in  Grosvenor  Hall;  May  Street  Church;  Donegall 
Square  Church;  The  Assembly's  College,  where  Dr.  Chap- 
man spoke  on  the  work  of  the  ministry;  the  Cripples' 
Home;  the  Belfast  Prison;  Belfast  Union  for  the  Poor,  and 
the  Salvation  Army  Hall. 

The  farewell  and  service  for  converts  was  held  on  Friday 
evening,  November  tenth. 

On  Saturday  the  eleventh,  in  the  afternoon,  the  party 
were  welcomed  by  the  people  of  Bangor,  a  town  not  far 
from  Belfast,  at  a  meeting  held  in  Dufferin  Hall.  The 
following  Thursday  was  observed  in  Bangor  as  a  day  of 
prayer.  Every  place  of  business  was  closed.  A  solemn 
hush  fell  upon  the  people.  They  knew  that  God  had  sent 
His  messenger  to  them.  From  that  day  the  mission  went 
forward  with  marked  spiritual  momentum  until  Thursday, 
the  twenty-first,  when  the  mission  came  to  a  close  with  five 
great  services:  the  first,  in  the  morning,  at  the  Bangor 
Cripples'  Home;  a  second  and  third,  in  the  afternoon,  one  a 
general  service,  the  other  for  ministers  and  church  officers; 
concluding  with  two  in  the  evening,  the  one  a  great  mass 
meeting  and  farewell  service  in  Dufferin  Hall,  where  Dr. 
Chapman  preached  on  the  text  he  loved  so  well,  Deuterono- 


AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  235 

my  1:19— "And  We  Came  to  Kadesh"— so  many  people 
thronging  the  service  that  it  became  necessary  to  arrange 
for  a  second — an  overflow  in  the  Methodist  Church — 
where  he  made  his  final  appeal  based  upon  Isaiah  55:6  and 
7: 

Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found;  call  ye  upon  him  while  he 
is  near:  let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
thoughts;  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy 
upon  him;  and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon. 

Never  before  in  Belfast  or  Bangor,  even  among  a  people 
so  peculiarly  susceptible  as  they,  had  there  been  a  more 
profound  emotional  impression  or  more  abiding  results 
from  any  similar  meetings  ever  conducted  in  those  cities. 

M  the  conclusion  of  the  campaign  in  Bangor  the  party 
motored  to  Belfast  where  they  were  entertained  for  a  day 
by  the  friends  in  that  city,  after  which  they  left  for  London- 
derry where,  in  the  afternoon  of  November  twenty-third, 
Dr.  Chapman  conferred  with  the  ministers,  and,  on  the 
evening  of  the  same  day,  opened  a  series  of  meetings  in  the 
First  Deny  Church  with  a  sermon  based  on  Luke  22:44 — 
"And  being  in  an  agony  he  prayed  more  earnestly." 

He  frequently  began  a  series  of  meetings  mth  this  text 
under  conviction,  deepened  by  irrefutable  evidence  of  ex- 
perience, that  without  earnest  prayer  there  could  be  no 
hopeful  and  permanent  issue.  The  meetings  in  Londonderry 
closed  on  Monday  evening,  December  fourth,  with  an 
extraordinary  manifestation  of  divine  power.  One  hundred 
young  men  dedicated  themselves  to  the  Christian  ministry 
and  a  large  number  of  young  women  offered  themselves  to 
some  form  of  Christian  service. 

In  Belfast  he  conducted  eighty-six  services,  in  Bangor 


236     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

twenty-four,  and  in  Londondery  twenty-five — a  total  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five. 

A  few  days  were  spent  in  Dundalk,  a  town  of  fourteen 
thousand,  with  only  a  small  minority  Protestant.  The 
meetings  were  held  in  the  Town  Hall  and,  considering  the 
few  people  in  religious  sympathy,  were  most  fruitful. 

Leaving  Ireland  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  arrived  in 
London  on  December  eleventh  and,  on  the  thirteenth, 
sailed  on  the  Amerika  for  New  York,  arriving — ''after  a 
very  rough  trip  " — on  the  twenty-second. 

The  Christmas  holidays,  with  cherished  memories  of 
another  year  of  spiritual  conquest,  were  spent  in  the  quiet 
and  delightful  atmosphere  of  home. 


CHAPTER  XV 

AUSTRALASIA 

During  the  closing  days  of  the  first  Australian  campaign, 
the  Melbourne  Executive  Committee  was  importuned  to 
arrange  for  an  extension  of  the  mission  or  for  a  future  return 
of  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander.  The  Chairman  of 
the  Committee,  the  Rev.  Alexander  Stewart,  in  his  report, 
stated  that  "this  desire  was  echoed  and  reechoed  in  the 
resolutions  passed  in  church  courts  and  conferences  at  a 
later  stage."  Dr.  Chapman  assured  the  Committee  that 
he  would  look  with  favour  upon  an  invitation  to  return. 
"All  the  states  the  missioners  had  visited'* — so  the  report 
continued — "welcomed  the  announcement  of  the  promise, 
welcomed  it  with  enthusiasm.  Through  leading  repre- 
sentatives of  their  church  life,  western  Australia,  Tas- 
mania, and  New  Zealand  asked  to  be  received  within  its 
scope.  All  Australasia  had  been  aroused  to  new  interest 
in  the  Gospel." 

The  "Australasian  Council"  was  organized  to  control  the 
general  plan.  The  headquarters  were  to  be  in  Melbourne. 
This  Council  had  many  sessions,  adopted  plans,  and 
formulated  a  general  itinerary.  Climatic  conditions  and 
population  had  to  be  considered.  Each  state  was  anxious 
to  get  as  long  a  period  in  as  suitable  a  season  of  the  year  as 
possible.  The  Melbourne  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, in  freely  giving  the  services  of  its  Secretary,  Mr.  W. 
Gordon  Sprigg,  to  act  as  Secretary  of  the  Executive  Council, 

237 


238     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

made  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  second  campaign  as 
it  had  to  the  first.  Few  people  had  even  a  remote  idea  of 
the  immense  amount  of  work  involved  in  such  a  movement. 
Mr.  Sprigg,  most  efficient  of  organizing  secretaries,  realized 
it. 

"I  have  been  privileged  to  plan  one  or  two  campaigns" — 
so  he  is  reported  to  have  said — "but  the  forthcoming 
Chapman-Alexander  Mission  promises  to  be  one  of  the 
biggest  projects  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  directing;  for  its 
Australasian  character  constitutes  it  the  greatest  spiritual 
enterprise  this  land  has  ever  known,  and  I  believe  that  it  is 
the  first  great  religious  movement  ever  conducted  under  a 
federated  board,  representing  the  whole  of  the  Common* 
wealth  and  the  Dominion  of  New  Zealand." 

For  the  space  of  two  years  preparation  was  made,  with 
the  understanding  that  the  work  was  to  begin  in  March, 
1912. 

On  January  twenty-fifth  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Charles  H.  Denison,  sailed  for  Naples, 
there  on  the  Otranto  joining  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  on  the 
outward  voyage  to  Australia.  Travelling  with  them  were 
Sir  Robert  Anderson  Bart,  with  Lady  Anderson,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  W.  H.  McLaughlin,  of  Belfast,  and  Mr.  A.  Hope 
Robertson  of  Glasgow. 

Passing  out  from  the  Red  Sea  by  Bab  el  Mandeb  the 
steamship  turned  east  through  the  Gulf  of  Aden  and  close 
under  Guardafui  veering  a  few  points  to  the  south,  stood  up 
the  great  stretches  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  laying  straight  her 
course  for  port  of  call  at  Colombo,  in  the  Island  of  Ceylon. 

Early  in  the  morning  appeared  the  peak  of  Pidu- 
rutalagala,  eight  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  and  before 
noon  the  symmetrical  contour  of  the  island.    With  an  area 


AUSTRALASIA  239 

three  times  that  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  it  rises  from  the 
waves  a  massive  mound  draped  in  tropical  foHage. 

Colombo,  the  chief  commercial  city  of  the  island  and  the 
port  of  Kandy,  the  capital,  has  a  population  of  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand,  made  up  of  many  races, 
from  the  Veddahs,  hardly  higher  in  the  creature  scale  than 
the  wild  beasts  that  frequent  their  remote  jungles,  to  the 
few  Portuguese,  Dutch,  and  English,  who  sojourn  in  their 
centre  of  export.  The  predominant  people  are  Singalese, 
whose  regiments  in  the  World  War  marched  under  the 
banner  of  England.  Through  many  ages  then*  traditions 
reach,  to  King  Solomon  whose  ships  at  the  ports  of  Ceylon 
may  have  made  triennial  calls  to  return  laden  with  "gold 
and  silver,  ivory,  apes,  and  peacocks." 

The  Otranto  entered  the  harbour  and  a  committee 
appeared  with  a  programme  prearranged  for  the  day.  Two 
meetings  were  held,  one  in  the  morning  and  the  other  in  the 
afternoon,  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Building. 

Twice,  in  her  course  still  eastward.  Dr.  Chapman 
preached  on  shipboard.  On  Sunday,  the  twenty-fifth  of 
February,  from  the  text  Matthew  6:33 — "Seek  ye  first  the 
Kingdom  of  God";  and  on  Sunday,  the  third  of  March, 
from  the  Twenty-third  Psalm. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  fifth  of  March  the  steamer 
sighted  the  west  coast  of  Australia,  and  before  noon 
anchored  at  Freemantle,  the  port  of  Perth,  and  capital  of 
the  province.  Here  at  noon  at  a  luncheon  they  were 
welcomed  by  the  local  clergy  and  others — the  conventional 
courtesy — and  held  a  conference  about  the  campaign  to 
begin  the  ensuing  November.  Early  the  next  morning  the 
party  started — across  the  Great  Bight  of  Australia — on  a 
six-day  voyage  to  Melbourne. 


240     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

The  voyage  up  to  the  point  of  rounding  the  Leeuwin  was 
fair  and  pleasant,  but  the  "Bight"  was  thereafter  in  bad 
mood,  and  the  party,  forty-eight  hours  late — "storm-tossed 
and  weary" — was  obliged  to  debark  at  Adelaide  in  order  to 
arrive  on  time  at  Melbourne. 

Here  a  monster  welcome  meeting  had  been  set  for  eight 
o'clock,  and  an  hour  before  that  time  the  concert  hall  of  the 
Exhibition  Building  was  filled.  Just  before  the  hour 
struck,  the  special  came  in,  and  motor-cars  brought  the 
party  direct  to  the  Exhibition  Building. 

During  the  eighteen  hours  spent  in  Melbourne  a  meeting 
for  ministers  was  held;  the  party  was  entertained  at 
luncheon  by  the  Victorian  Committee,  and  the  balance  of 
the  time  was  spent  in  conference  with  the  Australasian 
Council  for  "The  King's  Business" — officially  so  styled — of 
which  Rev.  Alexander  Stewart  was  Chairman,  Honourable 
James  Balfour  was  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  W.  Gordon  Sprigg, 
Executive  Secretary.  In  conference  with  the  "Missioners" 
the  "Itinerary"  was  amended,  and  the  "General  Pro- 
gramme" drawn  and  promulgated. 

On  Wednesday,  March  thirteenth,  they  were  aboard  the 
Warrimoo  en  route  via  Hobart  for  Dunedin. 

The  Committee  of  the  Tasmanian  Mission  met  the  boat 
at  Hobart,  escorted  the  party  to  Mount  Wellington,  and 
discussed  future  missions  en  route.  The  break  in  the 
journey  was  a  pleasant  one  and — more  important — gave 
further  evidence  of  the  fact  that  this  mission  was  in  extent 
to  be  really  Australasian. 

Good  weather  favoured  the  voyage  to  the  Bluff.  The 
party  went  by  rail  to  Invercargill  and  there,  with  a  crowded 
hall  and  a  fine  spirit,  conducted  a  service. 

New  Zealand,  a  British  colony  southeast  from  Australia, 


AUSTRALASIA  241 

in  its  contour  resembles  Italy.  They  are  about  the  same 
area,  equi-distant  from  the  equator,  Italy  north  and  New 
Zealand  south,  and  both  boot-shaped.  The  Dominion  is 
cut  by  narrow  straits  into  three  islands,  probably  of  one 
geologic  formation,  the  result  of  some  stupendous,  sub- 
marine corrugation  of  crust.  It  is  not  formed — as  in  other 
two  instances  cited — with  mountain  coast  ranges  and  a 
basin  between,  but  rather  with  one  single  sturdy  backbone 
from  which  the  fertile  coast-lands  slope  away  in  undulating 
mesas,  valleys,  and  plains.  Mount  Cook  has  an  altitude  of 
thirteen  thousand  feet;  and  Tongario,  six  thousand  five 
hundred  feet,  is  one  of  several  active  volcanoes.  The 
mountains  are  clad  with  valuable  forests  and  rich  soil,  the 
sift  of  eroding  lavas;  and  they  are  gushing  with  abundant 
waterpower  as  the  short,  numerous,  unnavigable  rivers 
plunge  down  the  gorges.  There  are  immense  deposits  of 
coal  and  gold,  vast  herds  on  the  mesas,  voluminous  export 
of  flax  and  much  else  of  value. 

Of  the  inhabitants  a  description  is  comparatively  simple. 
Of  the  aborigines  there  are  monuments,  but  neither  records 
nor  remnants  remain;  for  in  the  closing  years  of  the  four- 
teenth century  "a  formidable  band  of  adventurers  came 
sailing  some  thousands  of  miles  up  the  southern  sea  in  open 
canoes  impelled  only  by  hand-operated  paddles,  and 
landed,  conquered,  and  ate  them,  one  and  all." 

Maori  is  the  name  that  defined  these  erstwhile  cannibals. 
They  were  a  vigorous,  forceful,  not  to  say  intellectual  race, 
cruel,  and  knowing  no  law  except  that  of  the  spear  and  war- 
club;  yet  they  did  hold  land  in  severalty  and  passed  deeds, 
among  themselves,  the  signatures  being  a  hieroglyph,  which, 
for  identification,  was  transcribed  upon  their  physiognomy 
in  tattoo. 


242     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

As  early  as  1642  the  continent  was  first  seen  by  Tasman, 
a  Dutch  navigator,  of  whom  is  ''Tasmania."  He  made  no 
landing  and  the  islands  were  not  again  visited  by  white  men 
for  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  years. 

Then  Captain  Cook,  of  the  royal  navy,  and  one  of 
England's  greatest  explorers,  sailed  around  the  group, 
mapped  it,  landed,  and  claimed  it,  and  so  glowingly  reported 
it,  that  settlement  quickly  ensued. 

The  year  1814  was  marked  by  the  advent  of  Rev.  Samuel 
Marsden  who  had  spent  twenty-one  years  as  a  missionary 
in  Australia,  and  of  whom  it  is  written:  ''He  had  greater 
success  among  the  cannibal  Maoris  than  among  the  white 
convicts  and  cowboys  of  Australia."  We  are  in  the  dark  as 
to  just  what  this  "success"  impHed. 

One  chief,  Hongi  by  name,  was  sent  to  England  to  assist 
in  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  Maori  tongue; 
and,  with  an  invoice  of  firearms,  powder,  and  lead,  he 
returned  "with  the  ambition  of  a  Bonaparte,  introducing  a 
reign  of  terror,  and  a  big  export  trade  in  the  tattooed  heads 
of  his  neighbouring  tribes." 

On  the  other  hand,  Tupai  Cupa,  another  powerful  chief, 
came  with  a  written  guarantee  that  Britain  would  maintain 
order.  At  the  Empire's  expense  he  brought  with  him  "a 
shipload  of  Maori  sheep,  mules,  and  fowls."  It  is  of  record 
that  this  man  "manifested  great  intelligence  and  was  of  a 
very  loving,  gentle  nature." 

Twenty-three  years  after  the  Marsden  advent  Rome 
entered  upon  the  stage  in  the  person  of  a  priest,  afterward 
bishop,  named  Pompallier.  He  was  followed  by  George 
Augustus  Selwyn  who  set  up  an  Episcopate  of  the  Anglican 
church  at  Auckland.  Among  the  steadiest,  sturdiest 
tradesmen  of  the  new  country  were  many  Scotsmen,  and  of 


AUSTRALASIA  .  243 

these,  and   of  their  inherent  virility,  the  Presbyterian 
Church  sprang  up  in  all  the  enterprising  centres.    Little  or 
none  of  this  colonial  energy  is  yet  a  hundred  years  old. 
An  official  estimate — hardly  a  count  or  census — reports: 

In  1840  Maoris  60,000  Whites        2,000 

"  1870  "      46,000  "         256,000  Chinese  5,000 

"  1900  "      43,101  "         772,791  "       2,857 

"  1920  "      40,000  "      1,000,000  "       8,300 

At  Invercargill,  arriving  on  the  eighteenth  of  March, 
1912,  two  meetings  were  held:  one  in  the  afternoon  at  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  for  ministers  and  Christian  workers;  the  other 
in  the  evening  in  the  theatre,  with  a  sermon  on  the  text 
from  Second  Kings  6:6 — "The  iron  did  swim.'' 

On  the  nineteenth  the  party  entrained  for  Dunedin;  but 
on  the  way  held  two  services,  while  the  train  checked  off  its 
freight,  baggage,  and  mail;  the  first  at  Gore,  and  then  at 
Milton. 

"Dunedin" — says  Professor  Parsons — "is  one  of  the 
loveliest  and  liveliest  of  New  Zealand  cities.  Its  popula- 
tion numbers  about  seventy-five  thousand.  Its  business 
section  is  on  level  ground  near  the  harbour;  its  residences 
occupy  the  sloping  ground  to  the  west.  The  city  is  en- 
circled by  what  is  called  the  Town  Belt,  or  reservation,  a 
thousand  feet  wide  with  a  winding,  shaded  parkway  for 
Arts,  Science,  Law,  Medicine,  and  Mining;  a  Training 
College  for  Teachers;  a  School  of  Design;  and  Art  Gallery, 
Museum,  Theatre,  Atheneum,  Mechanics'  Institute,  and 
Botanical  Gardens." 

At  the  first  assemblage  in  Dunedin  was  given  the  usual 
heartfelt  expression  of  welcome.    Concerning  the  meetings 


244     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

that  followed,  the  Editor  of  the  Outlook — the  official  organ 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  Zealand — wrote: 

Space  fails  us  to  tell  of  the  wondrous  mid-day  meetings  for  business 
men  in  Burns  Hall;  of  the  nightly  gathering  of  between  three  and  four 
thousand  in  Brydone  Hall;  of  the  momentous  decisions  made  and  the 
wholesale  and  absolute  consecration. 

"Never  before" — said  Dr.  Fitchett — "in  the  history  of 
New  Zealand  have  such  audiences  been  gathered,  night  by 
night,  for  purely  religious  purposes,  as  during  the  recent 
visit  of  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander;  and  the  im- 
pression made  on  the  city  is  profoimd,  and  cannot  fail  to 
be  enduring.  The  secular  press  joins  with  ministers  of 
every  Church  in  wondering  testimony  to  the  scale  and 
power  of  the  spiritual  work  done  in  Dunedin." 

So  fruitful  were  the  results  that  the  staff  in  conference  with 
Dr.  Chapman  extended  the  time  allotted  to  Dunedin  from 
twelve  to  twenty-seven  days,  with  acquiescence  of  the  Execu- 
tive of  Christchurch,  on  condition  that  the  "Missioners" 
should  return  to  them  in  April,  1913 — a  whole  year  later. 

On  Monday  morning  at  seven  o'clock  of  the  fifteenth  of 
April,  1912,  a  farewell  service  was  held  in  the  First  Church, 
Dunedin,  after  which  the  party  entrained  for  the  Bluff,  the 
extreme  southern  port  of  call  in  the  world.  The  steamer 
was  held  for  them  at  Bluff — the  docking  place  for  Inver- 
cargill — and  as  the  shadows  of  night  fell  they  embarked  for 
Melbourne. 

The  ship  entered  Port  Philip  early  on  the  twenty-first  of 
April,  and  on  that  afternoon  Dr.  Chapman  addressed  a 
large  audience  of  men  at  Brunswick,  a  suburb  of  Melbourne, 
from  James  1:15 — "Sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bringeth  forth 
death."  So  began  the  Melbourne  Campaign.  It  had 
been  planned  that  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander,  with 


AUSTRALASIA  245 

Mr.  Harkness  and  Mr.  Naftzger,  visit  a  different  centre  each 
evening;  and  wherever  they  went  there  were  very  many 
decisions  for  Christ. 

The  mid-day  meetings  for  business  men  began  at  once, 
continued  unbroken  throughout  the  month,  and  every  day 
saw  the  King's  Theatre  filled  from  stage  to  gallery.  When 
at  the  end  of  a  fortnight  the  suburban  missions  closed  the 
mass  meetings  in  the  Melbourne  Exhibition  began,  and  in 
that  great  hall,  in  which  ten  thousand  people  may  hear 
with  ease,  from  one  to  five  meetings  were  held  every  day. 
No  mere  pen-picture  can  describe  adequately  the  vast 
audiences,  the  spiritual  intensity,  and  the  almost  over- 
whelming results  achieved. 

Dr.  Fitchett  said  that  never  before  had  Australia  wit- 
nessed such  gatherings  for  rehgious  purposes — **a  land- 
scape of  living  figures,  running  far  back  till  it  is  lost  in 
shadow;  on  either  side  are  the  packed  galleries;  on  the 
floor  beneath,  the  wings  run  back  deep  under  the  galleries, 
all  making  up  one  vast  pavement  of  human  faces." 

The  results  of  the  Melbourne  mission  were  said  to  have 
''ecHpsed  all  previous  exi)erience." 

On  Friday,  May  seventeenth,  the  party  left  for  Adelaide. 
*'The  mission" — so  reads  the  report — "did  not  open  very 
cheerfully.  Dr.  Chapman  was  laid  low  for  the  first  time  in 
his  life  with  a  sore  throat;  Mr.  Naftzger  had  to  be  left 
behind  in  Melbourne,  having  developed  a  severe  cold;  and 
the  party  had  scarcely  arrived  when  one  of  the  lady  mem- 
bers sprained  her  ankle.  But  if  the  campaign  opened 
doubtfully,  it  ended  triumphantly  and  gloriously." 

**To  tell  the  story  of  the  great  series  of  meetings" — so 
wrote  Dr.  Rollings — **  would  need  a  volume,  not  an  article. 
At  once  be  it  said  that  on  all  sides  it  is  admitted  that,  in 


246     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

point  of  interest,  the  number  and  character  of  converts,  the 
tone  and  spirit  of  the  meetings  and  the  power  of  the  ad- 
dresses, and  the  general  spiritual  quickening  which  has 
come  to  many  ministers  and  churches,  the  results  of  this 
mission  far  exceed  those  of  three  years  ago." 

Leaving  Adelaide  on  June  sixth  the  party  proceeded  to 
Petersburg,  holding  two  services,  and  then  went  on  to 
Broken  Hill,  the  world-famous  mining  field,  and  there 
conducted  a  ten  days'  mission. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  campaign  Port  Pirie  and  Mount 
Gambler  were  visited  for  short  missions,  and  Melbourne 
was  reached  on  July  fourth.  The  "Missioners"  took  part 
in  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  anniversary  service  at  which  Dr.  Chapman 
delivered  a  striking  address  that  has  since  been  published  in 
pamphlet  form. 

Crossing  the  border  into  New  South  Wales,  Goulburn 
(ten  days)  and  Bathurst  (a  week)  were  visited  before  the 
Sydney  mission  opened  on  July  nineteenth.  After  Sydney, 
came  Newcastle,  Maitland,  and  Armidale;  three  of  the  most 
important  centres  of  industry  in  the  state. 

The  Sydney  mission  opened  on  Friday,  July  nineteenth, 
under  the  handicap  of  **all  shops  open  till  ten  o'clock." 

Nevertheless,  the  Town  Hall  was  crowded,  and  "the 
welcome  was  worthy  of  a  king;  representative  and  en- 
thusiastic to  the  highest  degree." 

At  the  close  of  the  first  week  in  Sydney  a  report  was 
published  as  follows: 

Three  times  a  day  the  Sydney  Town  Hall  has  been  crowded. 
Rain  has  fallen  every  day,  but  it  has  had  no  effect  on  the  attendances. 
Overflow  meetings  have  been  a  constant  necessity.  Each  evening  the 
doors  have  had  to  be  closed  and  hundreds  turned  away.  When  fine 
weather  comes,  the  present  difficulty  of  meeting  the  demand  for  space 
will  be  vastly  increased.    At  the  present  time  there  is  no  hall  in 


AUSTRALASIA  247 

Australia  large  enough  to  seat  all  those  who  wish  to  attend  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Chapman-Alexander  Mission.  This  fact  is  the  highest 
testimony  to  the  appeal  they  make  to  people  of  all  classes. 

The  General  Committee  at  Newcastle  sent  the  following 
letter  expressive  of  the  great  value  of  the  mission  in  relation 
to  the  Church  and  general  life  of  the  community: 

Dear  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander:  ,. 

We  have  been  requested  by  the  General  Committee  of  the  New- 
castle campaign  to  convey  to  you  and  to  the  members  of  your  party 
the  best  thanks  of  the  Committee  for  the  splendid  services  rendered  to 
our  district  during  your  recent  visit.  The  memory  of  that  one  week's 
Mission  will  be  a  fragrant  one  in  the  minds  of  all  the  ministers  and 
Christian  workers  in  Newcastle.  For  the  many  who  were  born  into 
the  Kingdom  as  the  outcome  of  your  united  efforts  ,we  thank  you. 
For  the  opportunity  we  have  to-day  of  feeding  so  many  lambs  of  the 
flock,  we  thank  you.  For  the  deep,  calm  confidence  that  our  people 
have  of  God,  we  thank  you.  For  the  burden  that  has  been  lightened, 
for  the  vision  that  has  been  given,  we  would  thank  you. 

We  feel,  however,  that  no  words  of  ours  will  adequately  express  all 
that  is  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  Newcastle  on  this  occasion.  But 
you  will  permit  us  to  say  that  as  Christian  workers  we  feel  that  we  are 
better  servants  of  the  Master  for  the  association  which  we  have  had 
with  you  and  the  members  of  your  party.  Indeed,  one  text  will  best 
describe  what  we  feel,  when  we  say  that  we  are  like  the  beloved  John, 
who  wrote:  "Then  went  in  also  that  other  disciple  which  came  first 
to  the  sepulchre,  and  he  saw,  and  believed."  To-day,  we,  as  ministers 
and  labourers  in  the  work,  have  bravely  entered  into  the  empty  tomb, 
to  come  forth  to  proclaim,  "  He  lives! "  For  this  and  for  your  brotherly 
helpfulness,  we  would  express  our  thanks.  Wherever  you  and  yours 
may  be,  whether  it  be  near  or  whether  it  be  far,  our  prayers  will  com- 
pass you  about,  that  God  may  make  you  "a  flaming  fire."  Some- 
time, perhaps,  He  may  lead  you  to  this  city  again;  then,  as  in  the  past, 
we  will  be  ready  to  fling  wide  open  the  doors  of  our  hearts  and  say, 
like  the  one  of  old,  "  Come  in,  thou  blessed  of  the  Lord."  With  every 
good  wish  for  yourselves  and  all  the  members  of  your  party,  we  are, 

Yours  sincerely, 
Signed  William  Scott,  President, 

Stanley  Morrison,  Secretary, 
Newcastle  Mission  Committee. 


248     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

From  the  fifth  to  the  nineteenth  of  September  great 
meetings  were  held  in  Brisbane.  The  party  arrived  on 
Wednesday  evening  at  the  Central  Station,  and  was 
greeted  by  the  Rev.  Drs.  Merrington,  G.  E.  Rowe,  J. 
Mursell,  and  many  others,  including  a  number  of  ladies. 
Dr.  Youngman  and  Dr.  Merrington  spoke  a  few  words 
of  welcome,  and  Dr.  Chapman  briefly  responded.  Mr. 
Alexander  led  those  present  in  the  singing  of  the  "Glory- 
Song,"  and  the  Salvation  Army  band  supplied  the 
accompaniment. 

On  Thursday  afternoon,  in  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Bris- 
bane, the  official  welcome  was  given  by  the  representatives 
of  all  the  denominations. 

At  the  final  meeting  in  Brisbane  Dr.  Chapman  said: 

"In  many  respects,  if  not  in  all,  I  consider  the  present 
mission  superior  to  that  of  three  years  ago.  Perhaps  it 
was  not  as  generally  great,  but  there  were  heights  reached 
and  depths  touched  which  I  am  sure  we  did  not  experience 
in  our  last  mission." 

The  Brisbane  campaign  was  followed  by  one  or  more 
meetings  in  Gladstone,  Townsville,  Charters  Towers, 
Mackay,  and  Toowoomba. 

On  the  return  to  Melbourne  six  days  were  given  to  Albury, 
and  on  the  thirtieth  of  October  there  was  an  enormous  mass 
meeting  in  the  Exhibition  Hall  at  Melbourne.  This  was 
followed  in  Ballarat  by  a  ten-day  campaign  during  which 
the  Coliseum  was  crowded  to  capacity. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  November  the  party  sailed  on  the 
Otway  for  Perth.  Six  days  were  spent  in  Freemantle  with 
meetings  in  the  Town  Hall  and  the  Olympia  Rink.  This 
campaign  was  followed  by  another  of  three  weeks  in  Perth 
where  meetings  were  held  in  Queens  Hall  and  Star  Rink, 


AUSTRALASIA  249 

Dr.  Chapman  preaching  about  three  times  daily  until  the 
sixteenth  of  December,  1912. 

On  the  seventeenth  they  sailed  on  the  Mooltan  for  Mel- 
bourne, reaching  there  on  the  twenty-third.  The  following 
day  they  embarked  on  the  Rotomahana — an  abominable 
substitute  for  a  decent  boat — for  Tasmania,  where  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Chapman  were  to  have  the  first  and  only  vacation 
they  had  enjoyed  in  eighteen  months.  They  continued  in 
Tasmania  for  a  month.  During  that  time  occasional  ser- 
vices were  held  in  Launceston,  Deloraine,  Devenport,  and  at 
Mole  Creek.  In  the  latter  place  the  little  Methodist  Church 
was  inadequate  to  accommodate  the  crowds  and  the  meetings 
were  held  in  the  open  air.  The  one  meeting  that  was  held 
in  most  tender  remembrance  by  Dr.  Chapman  was  a  watch- 
night  service  opening  up  the  year  1913.  It  was  a  meeting 
marked  by  great  spiritual  power  and  often  referred  to  there- 
after by  Dr.  Chapman  as  one  of  the  most  impressive  services 
that  he  had  ever  attended. 

At  Mole  Creek,  with  such  occasional  interruption  of  ser- 
vices, they  spent  their  vacation.  Dr.  Chapman's  oldest 
son,  J.  Wilbur,  Jr.,  and  his  bride,  having  been  married  in 
America,  were  on  their  wedding  journey  around  the  world. 
To  the  delight  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  they  were  at  Mole 
Creek  during  this  period  of  rest. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Norton  were  able  to  spend  part  of  the  time 
with  them. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  were  compelled  to  remain  at  Mel- 
bourne where  Mrs.  Alexander  had  undergone  another  seri- 
ous operation,  from  which,  however,  she  recovered  with  sur- 
prising rapidity. 

The  month  at  Mole  Creek  was  in  some  respects  one  of  the 
happiest  of  Dr.  Chapman's  life.    With  Mrs.  Chapman  he 


250    J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

was  entertained  at  "a  little  old  farmhouse"  where  they  had 
"a  glorious  time,"  to  which — it  may  be  suggested — "ex- 
traordinarily good  cherry  pies"  and  "unequalled  biscuits" 
made  their  contribution. 

In  the  midst  of  these  rural  scenes  the  joys  of  Wilbur's 
boyhood  days  in  the  Whitewater  Valley  flooded  his  memory. 
Relieved  of  the  exacting  burdens  of  his  exhausting  campaign 
he  was  free  to  live  and  act  as  in  dear  old  bygone  days.  Mrs. 
Scott,  their  hostess,  questioned  his  ability  "to  milk  a  cow." 
Little  did  she  know  of  those  earlier  boyhood  days  in  Rich- 
mond. She  challenged  him  to  a  contest,  and — to  her  sur- 
prise— "he  won  easily." 

Separated  from  all  public  functions  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chap- 
man with  joyous  enthusiasm  spent  together  those  happy 
days.  There  was  "the  two-wheeled  cart"  and  "the  old 
farm  horse"  always  at  their  disposal. 

The  surrounding  country,  exquisitely  beautiful;  the  glens 
of  fern,  more  lovely  perhaps  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world,  the  balmy  summer  (January)  days;  the  brooks  rip- 
pling through  the  meadows;  the  long,  silent  evenings;  the 
glorious  firmament,  spanned  by  the  radiant  beauty  of  the 
Southern  Cross:  all  conspiring  to  deepen  the  tranquillity 
of  those  days  ever  to  be  cherished  in  memory;  days  in  which 
there  came  the  return  of  strength  to  meet  the  pressure  of 
work  impending. 

Too  soon,  by  far,  that  happy  period  came  to  a  close,  and  on 
the  evening  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  January — the  anniversary 
of  their  departure  from  New  York — they  regretfully  em- 
barked on  the  Loongana  for  the  night  journey  to  Melbourne. 

Services  were  held  for  a  week  at  Geelong.  Eleven  meet- 
ings, from  the  ninth  to  twelfth  of  February,  were  given  to 
Melbourne. 


AUSTRALASIA  251 

At  noon  on  Wednesday,  the  twelfth,  the  last  message  to 
the  people  of  Australia  was  given  by  Dr.  Chapman  who 
took  for  his  text  Ephesians  6:10:  ''Finally,  my  brethren, 
be  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  his  might." 

They  were  to  hear  his  voice  no  more  until  the  day  of 
greeting  on  the  Resurrection  morning. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  solemn  appeal  the  entire  au- 
dience followed  to  the  steamship  dock  where  Mr.  Alexander 
led  them  in  the  farewell  song:  "God  will  take  care  of  you." 

The  steamer  weighed  anchor  and  the  party  was  off  for 
New  Zealand. 

On  the  eighteenth  they  arrived  at  Dunedin,  and,  before 
beginning  at  Christchurch,  four  meetings  were  held  in  Dun- 
edin, two  in  Queenstown,  and  a  five-day  campaign  at 
Timaru. 

In  Christchurch  fine  meetings  were  held  afternoons  in  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Building  and  in  His  Majesty's  Theatre,  with 
mass  meetings  in  the  evening  in  a  mammoth  tent  that  had 
been  especially  erected  for  the  purpose. 

Dr.  Chapman,  in  reviewing  the  New  Zealand  work,  com- 
mended the  splendid  preparation  that  had  been  made  by 
the  people  of  Christchurch  and  expressed  great  satisfaction 
at  the  deep  spiritual  impression  pervading  those  meetings 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  He  and  his  associates  left 
Christchurch  with  feelings  of  sorrow  something  like  that  of 
St.  Paul  when  he  parted  with  the  elders  of  Ephesus.  The 
people  had  been  kind  and  responsive  and  the  spiritual  har- 
vest more  abundant  than  they  had  expected. 

The  campaign  at  Christchurch  was  followed  by  another  of 
nearly  three  weeks  at  Wellington,  the  capital  of  the  domin- 
ion, and  the  seat  of  Parliament.  The  opening  meeting  was 
held  on  March  twenty-sixth.    Honourable  W.  F.  Massey, 


252     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

the  Prime  Minister,  presided  and  in  behalf  of  the  people 
welcomed  the  mission  party. 

They  had  gone  to  Wellington  with  some  misgiving  be- 
cause of  the  little  preparation  that  had  been  made  and  be- 
cause of  the  discouraging  outlook  due  to  the  lack  of  coopera- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Wellington  ministers.  But  the  re- 
sults reversed  their  anticipations.  The  meetings  began 
with  manifestations  of  power,  continued  with  ever-increas- 
ing blessing,  and  ended  in  final  triumph.  Some  of  the  most 
remarkable  conversions  of  the  entire  campaign  were  those 
that  occurred  in  Wellington. 

In  Auckland,  the  northern  metropolis,  beginning  on  the 
eighteenth  of  April  and  extending  to  the  ninth  day  of  May, 
the  work  in  New  Zealand  was  brought  to  a  close. 

Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  considered  the  Auck- 
land campaign,  the  last  held  in  New  Zealand,  the  most  fruit- 
ful of  all.  The  atmosphere  of  the  city  was  pervaded  by 
the  Spirit  of  God.  Meetings  of  great  power  were  held  in 
homes,  in  factories,  and  on  the  streets.  The  people  in  gen- 
eral declared  that  never  before  had  the  city  been  so  spirit- 
ually awakened.  The  unusual  blessing  was  due  largely  to 
the  early  and  earnest  preparation.  The  spirit  of  prayer 
prevailed  before  the  arrival  of  the  party  and  continued 
throughout  the  series  of  meetings.  Ten  thousand  cards 
had  been  circulated  from  the  churches  pledging  the  sub- 
scribers to  daily  prayer  for  the  Chapman-Alexander  party, 
the  ministers  of  the  city,  the  members  of  churches,  and  the 
unsaved  of  the  city.  Doubtless  this  spiritual  preparation 
lay  at  the  foundation  of  the  extraordinary  results  achieved 
in  the  Auckland  mission.  On  the  first  Sunday  meeting 
three  hundred  public  confessions  of  Christ  were  made.  On 
the  third  Sunday  of  the  mission  there  were  more  than  three 


AUSTRALASIA  253 

hundred  decisions.  During  the  entire  time  nearly  two 
thousand  decision  cards  had  been  signed.  Between  three 
and  four  hundred  young  people  publicly  dedicated  their 
lives  to  whatever  service  God  might  call  them. 

The  Australasian  Executive,  concerning  the  work  in 
Australia  alone,  published  a  book  reciting  resolutions 
adopted,  personal  appreciations,  and  "some  facts.** 

According  to  this  statement — besides  the  work  in  New 
Zealand  and  Tasmania — Dr.  Chapman,  during  the  eleven 
months  spent  in  Australia,  conducted  six  hundred  and  fifty 
evangelistic  services,  and,  in  addition  to  these,  held  in- 
numerable conferences.  During  that  time  "nine  hundred 
men  in  different  parts  of  the  Commonwealth  had  pledged 
themselves  to  do  personal  work,  eighteen  hundred  young 
women  had  offered  themselves  publicly  for  mission  work 
at  home  or  abroad,  one  thousand  young  men  and  boys  had 
pubUcly  declared  themselves  ready  to  respond  to  a  call  to 
the  ministry  if  it  should  come  to  them,  twelve  thousand 
members  had  joined  the  Pocket  Testament  League."  In 
Adelaide  two  generous  Christian  men,  as  a  result  of  the 
mission  in  that  city,  offered  to  establish  a  Chapman- 
Alexander  Bible  Institute,  one  of  them  promising  to  con- 
tribute £5,000  and  the  other  £4,000  toward  the  fund  re- 
quired. From  all  parts  of  the  Commonwealth  "there  had 
come  tidings  of  blessings  received,  churches  quickened, 
ministers  inspired,  and  great  numbers  of  people  won  to 
Christ.'* 

The  Bible  Institute  of  Adelaide  was  proposed  and  founded 
in  order  to  provide  spiritual  training  for  the  large  number  of 
yoimg  people  who  had  definitely  given  themselves  to  some 
form  of  Christian  service. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  R.  H.  White  offered  as  the  headquarters  of 


254     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

the  Institute  their  beautiful  home  known  as  "Wekewau- 
ban."  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  in  a  letter  written 
from  Melbourne  stated: 

The  Bible  Institute  now  being  established  in  Adelaide  has  our 
sincere  confidence.  We  believe  there  is  a  place  for  such  an  Institution 
in  the  Commonwealth  and  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  no  better  location 
could  be  found  than  that  which  has  now  been  chosen.  We  were  not 
instrumental  in  any  way  in  establishing  this  institution,  except  as  it  is 
said  to  be  an  outgrowth  of  our  mission  in  Adelaide,  nor  did  we  suggest 
the  name  to  be  given  to  it. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  M.  McBride  of  Kooringa,  having  heard 
of  a  gift  of  a  site  for  the  Institution,  made  a  pledge  of  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  toward  a  permanent  building,  but  upon 
hearing  of  the  transfer  of  the  White  property  to  the  Institute 
they  executed  their  check  for  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  be 
used  for  such  equipment  as  might  be  needed.  Subsequently 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  gave  an  additional  piece  of  land  that 
might  serve  the  Institute  as  a  campus. 

When  the  question  arose  as  to  the  selection  of  a  principal 
Dr.  Chapman's  opinion  was  requested.  He  recommended 
one  of  his  closest  personal  friends,  who  had  been  associated 
with  him  in  evangelistic  work,  and  in  whom  he  had  un- 
limited confidence,  the  Rev.  John  H.  ElHott,  D.D.,  of  Amer- 
ica. On  this  recommendation  of  Dr.  Chapman,  Dr.  Elliott 
was  unanimously  selected  to  act  as  the  principal  of  the  In- 
stitute. 

On  Saturday,  June  thirteenth,  1914,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Elliott 
arrived  in  Adelaide  and  were  given  official  welcome  on  the 
lawn  of  the  Institute  before  a  large  company  by  Sir  Charles 
Goode,  the  President  of  the  Institute. 

Dr.  Elliott  arranged  the  course  of  study,  received  the 
first  students,  and  the  Institute  was  opened  the  following 


AUSTRALASIA  255 

month.  After  two  years  of  faithful  and  efficient  service, 
on  account  of  war  conditions,  he  thought  it  best  to  return 
to  America,  but  the  foundations  of  the  Institute  had  been 
permanently  fixed.  His  loss  to  the  Institute  was  very  keenly 
felt  as  is  evident  from  a  letter  dated  November  twenty- 
second,  1916,  written  by  the  present  General  Secretary  and 
Superintendent,  Mr.  James  Delehanty,  who  said: 

We  are  now  nearing  the  end  of  our  first  year  since  we  lost  the  most 
valuable  and  highly  appreciated  services  of  Doctor  Elliott,  and  I  feel 
that  notwithstanding  that  great  loss  we  have  received  much  blessing 
because  this  Institute  is  of  God,  and  so  long  as  we  seek  to  be  obedient 
to  His  will  we  shall  be  sustained  in  the  work.  The  students  have  made 
progress.  They  highly  appreciate  their  instructors  and  in  the  midst 
of  somewhat  trying  circumstances  we  are  making  some  advance.  In 
the  evening  classes  we  have  had  106  enrollments  during  the  year  and  at 
the  present  hold  64. 

During  the  first  five  years  of  its  existence — four  and  one 
half  of  which  covered  the  period  of  the  war — two  hundred 
and  fifty-three  students  have  been  trained  in  the  Institute; 
seven  diplomas  having  been  granted,  the  students  taking 
the  full  course;  several  are  now  in  the  employ  of  the  churches; 
others  are  at  work  in  the  mission  fields  of  Papua  and  India. 

At  the  present  time  the  management  of  the  Institute  is 
making  an  effort  to  secure  a  sufficient  endowment  which  as  a 
memorial  is  to  be  known  as — "the  Doctor  J.  Wilbur  Chap- 
man Endowment  Fund.'' 

Dr.  W.  H.  Fitchett,  the  distinguished  author  and  preacher, 
summing  up  the  result  of  the  campaign,  said: 

No  such  gatherings  have  yet  been  seen  in  Australia.  They  could 
not  have  been  drawn  by  any  other  theme  than  religion.  We  might 
have  had  great  orators  discoursing  on  science,  on  politics,  on  literature, 
but  they  would  neither  have  gathered  such  multitudes  nor  held  them 


256     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

when  they  were  gathered.  But  the  vast  audiences  drawn  by  the 
mission  never  failed,  and  they  never  tired.  No  building  was  large 
enough  to  hold  them.  At  the  climax  of  the  Melbourne  mission  the 
secular  journals  reported  that  the  audience  rose  to  15,000.  News- 
paper reporters  are  not  apt  to  exaggerate  where  a  religious  meeting 
is  concerned,  but  allowing  for  unconscious  newspaper  exaggeration, 
the  figures  quoted  show  what  multitudes  the  missioners  gathered  to 
their  services. 

What  was  it  that  held  such  vast  audiences  spellbound  as 
if  eternity  itself  were  closing  round  them?  It  was  the  tell- 
ing of  a  simple  story,  a  story  that  first  fell  from  the  lips  of 
God  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  a  story  that  was  taken  up  and 
told  by  prophet,  by  priest,  and  by  king,  a  story  that  be- 
came the  prophetic  burden  of  the  ages,  a  story  that  was  ever 
upon  the  lips  of  Him  without  whom  there  had  been  no  story, 
a  story  that  captured  the  imagination  and  the  heart  of  Saul 
of  Tarsus  and  sent  him  forth  that  he  might,  at  whatever 
cost  to  himself,  tell  it  to  those  who  had  never  heard  it.  It 
was  the  simple  story  of  Jesus.  That  was  the  story  that 
Dr.  Chapman  ever  told;  that  was  the  story  upon  which 
every  member  of  the  Chapman-Alexander  party  dwelt. 
Never  in  all  those  meetings  did  Dr.  Chapman  or  any  mem- 
ber of  the  party  make  a  single  apology  for  the  Word  of  God. 
They  believed  in  it,  in  its  inspiration  from  Genesis  to  Revela- 
tion, and  preached  it  as  men  preach  who  believe  themselves 
to  be  the  ambassadors  of  Christ  and  messengers  of  the  Most 
High  God  to  a  world  of  sinners. 

*'The  Chapman-Alexander  Mission,"  Dr.  Fitchett  con- 
cludes, "is  a  link  in  a  chain  of  spiritual  force  that  runs  right 
back  to  the  day  of  Pentecost.  All  the  great  traditions  of 
spiritual  history  are  on  its  side.  What  great  names  are  in 
the  evangelical  succession!  Moody,  McCheyne,  Finney, 
Jonathan  Edwards,  Wesley,  Whitfield !    And  the  Chapman- 


AUSTRALASIA  257 

Alexander  Mission  springs  from  the  same  root  and  yields 
the  same  fruit/' 

On  the  tenth  of  May,  1913,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Alexander,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Norton,  Mr.  Charles 
Denison,  and  Mr.  Norman  Thomas  sailed  for  Vancouver  on 
the  Niagara,  This  fine  new  steamer,  curiously  enough, 
was  commanded  by  Captain  Gibbs  who  was  the  master  of 
the  Makura  on  which  steamer  Dr.  Chapman  had  sailed 
from  Vancouver  for  the  first  Australian  campaign.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Harkness  remained  for  a  week  of  leisure  in  New  Zea- 
land, afterward  returning  to  Australia  and  then  to  England. 
The  balance  of  the  party,  Rev.  G.  T.  B.  Davis  and  his  mother, 
Mr.  R.  B.  Rock,  Dr.  Chapman's  secretary,  Mr.  W.  W. 
Rock,  Mr.  Alexander's  secretary,  left  for  Sydney  on  the 
Friday  following,  the  sixteenth. 

On  the  return  trip  to  Vancouver  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman^ 
spent  an  interesting  day  at  Fiji,  another  at  Honolulu,  and 
arrived  in  Vancouver  at  the  end  of  May.  They  proceeded 
to  their  home  in  Jamaica  where  Dr.  Chapman  remained 
during  the  summer,  filling  the  pulpit  of  the  Madison  Avenue 
Baptist  Church  for  ten  Sundays,  and  completing  his  arrange- 
ments for  the  coming  fall  and  winter. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

SCOIT^AND 

Scotland,  from  whatever  angle  viewed,  captures  the 
imagination,  stimulates  the  mind,  and  wins  the  heart. 

The  Highlands,  wind-swept  and  barren,  in  the  majesty 
of  their  loneliness,  are  without  a  peer,  and,  though  highly 
picturesque,  as  cheerless  as  the  face  of  the  elder  who  in 
solemn  stateliness  gives  dignity  to  the  meeting  of  the  kirk 
session. 

The  land  south  of  a  line  stretching  from  Glasgow  to 
Edinburgh  has  been  fixed  in  popular  affection  by  the  genius 
of  Burns  and  Scott. 

Burns  mail  exempli  has  nevertheless  made  classic  the 
tongue  of  the  Scotsmen  and  rooted  himself  in  the  affections 
of  the  English-speaking  world. 

Scott  has  bewitchingly  delineated  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  the  people,  contrasted  their  virtues  and  vices,  and 
made  to  glow  with  romance  the  regions  described  by  his  pen. 

It  is  worth  the  journey  across  the  sea  to  sit  beside  the 
''Twa  Brigs"  of  Ayr  or  to  walk  in  silent  contemplation  over 
the  road  taken  by  the  cortege  that  followed  the  body  of  Sir 
Walter  from  Abbotsford  to  his  final  resting  place  in  Dry- 
burgh  Abbey. 

But  the  heart  of  the  churchman  is  drawn  to  Scotland 
neither  by  the  beauty  of  its  scenery  nor  by  the  romance  of 
its  history,  but  because  of  those  great  spiritual  movements 
that  have  moulded  the  thought,  shaped  the  institutions, 

258 


SCOTLAND  259 

inspired  the  ideals,  and  fixed  the  religious  convictions  of  her 
people. 

It  was  John  Knox  that  ruled  the  realm  of  Scotland  and 
proclaimed  a  spiritual  liberty  that  has  been  consecrated 
and  perpetuated  by  rivers  of  blood. 

Knox,  more  than  any  other  of  the  Reformers,  captivated 
and  fascinated  the  thought  of  Dr.  Chapman;  and  for  Scot- 
land he  cherished  a  deep  and  singular  affection. 

While  in  Australasia  he  received  invitations  to  conduct 
a  campaign  in  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh. 

The  blessings  that  had  accredited  his  work  in  Ireland  and 
Wales,  as  well  as  the  phenomenal  religious  awakening  that 
was  sweeping  over  Australia,  had  won  the  confidence  of  the 
Scottish  churchmen  and  turned  their  thought  to  him  as  the 
one  through  whom  might  be  ministered  the  spiritual  refresh- 
ing for  which  they  longed. 

The  invitation  to  Glasgow,  forwarded  to  New  Zealand, 
was  as  follows: 

64  Bothwell  Street, 
Glasgow,  1st  April,  1912. 
Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  D.D.,  and  Mr.  Charles  M.  Alexander. 
Dear  Sirs: 

Our  Association  has  been  in  touch  with  Rev.  Henry  Montgomery  of 
Belfast  regarding  a  possible  visit  of  yourself  and  your  party  to  the  City 
of  Glasgow  for  an  Evangelistic  Campaign. 

Consideration  of  this  proposal  has  come  before  several  meetings  of 
the  Board  of  this  Association  and  it  seemed  to  the  members  that  the 
wise  thing  to  do  was  to  secure  the  sympathy  and  cooperation  of  the 
various  churches  in  the  city  before  we  took  any  definite  step.  Accord- 
ingly deputations  from  our  Board  visited  the  Church  of  Scotland 
Presbytery  of  Glasgow  and  the  United  Free  Church  Presbytery  of 
Glasgow,  and  on  one  of  these  occasions  had  the  advantage  of  Mr. 
Montgomery's  help  and  counsel.  Further,  we  called  a  General 
Meeting  which  was  a  company  representing  very  fully  the  different 
Churches  and  Christian  Organizations  in  the  City. 


260     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

I  enclose  for  your  perusal  a  report  of  the  deputation  to  the  Church 
of  Scotland  Presbytery,  an  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  United 
Free  Church  Presbytery,  and  a  copy  of  a  resolution  passed  at  the 
General  Meeting  to  whick  I  have  referred.  From  these  you  wiM  see 
that  the  desire  to  extend  an  invitation  to  you  from  our  Association  ia 
warmly  supported  by  the  best  elements  in  the  City. 

Further,  I  enclose  for  your  information  the  names  of  the  gentlemen 
appointed  to  a  General  Committee  intended  to  cooperate  with  our 
Association  in  the  details  of  the  Campaign. 

At  a  meeting  of  our  Board  held  to-day  all  these  papers  were  laid 
upon  the  table,  and  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to  extend  to  you  and 
to  your  party  a  hearty  invitation  to  conduct  a  series  of  Gospel  meetings 
in  October  and  November,  1913.  Further,  it  was  our  desire  that  if 
possible  you  should  leave  December  free  so  that  if  in  the  providence  of 
God  there  should  be  a  wide-spread  work  of  grace,  you  could  be  in  the 
position  to  further  extend  your  usefulness  and  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
our  midst. 

Our  Association  undertakes  full  responsibility  for  the  movement 
and  we  shall  be  assisted  in  the  detail  and  in  the  working  of  it  by  the 
General  Committee  to  which  I  have  referred. 

We  can  assure  you  of  a  most  hearty  welcome  when  you  come  to  our 
city  and  we  further  undertake  that  the  movement  will  be  inaugurated 
with  very  earnest  prayer  before  the  actual  Campaign  commences. 

I  am, 

Yours  faithfully, 
(signed)  John  W.  Arthur, 
Hon.  Secretary. 

About  three  months  later,  while  in  New  South  Wales, 
Dr.  Chapman  received  another  communication  as  follows: 

52  Queen  Street, 
Edinburgh,  15th  July,  1912. 
To  THE  Rev.  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  CM.  Alexander, 
Beloved  and  Honoured  Brethren: 

Stirred  by  the  knowledge  that  you  have  been  invited  to  undertake  a 
series  of  Evangelistic  Meetings  in  Glasgow  in  the  end  of  1913,  and 
encouraged  by  the  interesting  account  of  the  remarkable  blessing  that 
attended  your  labours  in  Belfast  which  was  given  here  at  a  meeting  of 
Ministers  and  others  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Montgomery,  D.D,,  we  were 


SCOTLAND  261 

led  to  form  a  committee  to  take  steps  toward  the  inviting  of  you  and 
your  companions  to  come  on  a  similar  errand  to  Edinburgh  after  the 
close  of  your  work  in  Glasgow. 

The  Committee,  composed  of  ministers,  elders,  and  other  office- 
bearers and  members  of  the  various  evangelical  churches,  missions, 
and  evangelistic  agencies  in  our  city,  appointed  deputations  to  wait 
on  the  Presbyteries  respectively  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  and  of  the 
United  Free  Church  to  enlist  their  sympathy  and  cooperation  in  the 
movement.  In  both  instances  the  delegates,  headed  by  the  Rev. 
Principal  Whyte,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  and  Rev.  Dr.  George  Wilson,  were  very 
warmly  welcomed,  and  each  of  the  Presbyteries  nominated  a  group  of 
their  members  to  represent  them  in  the  activities  of  the  Committee. 

The  Committee  thus  constituted  by  a  fair  representation  of  the 
general  evangelistic  interest  of  Edinburgh,  and  re-inforced  by  the 
association  with  our  two  leading  Presbyteries,  has  met  to-day. 

After  prayer  and  consultation  we  have  concluded  unanimously  and 
very  heartily  to  invite  you  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  to 
come  to  us  early  in  1914  with  the  gospel  with  which  you  have  been 
allowed  of  God  to  be  put  in  trust,  and  in  the  proclamation  of  which 
He  has  been  pleased  so  greatly  to  bless  you  and  your  fellow-workers. 

We  pray  that  His  rich  blessing  may  continue  with  you  in  all  your 
spheres  of  service,  and  that  He  may  bring  you  to  us  in  His  good  time  in 
the  fullness  of  the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

If  you  are  minded  to  come  we  will  be  pleased  to  receive  from  you  any 
suggestions  it  may  occur  to  you  to  make  to  us  in  the  way  of  preliminary 
preparations. 

We  are,  in  the  service  of  Christ, 

Yours  faithfully, 
(signed)  A.  R.  Simpson,  Chairman, 
J.  M.  Ferguson,  Hon.  Sec'y. 

Copies  of  these  letters  are  inserted  that  we  may  have 
before  us  the  genesis  of  a  movement  that,  in  depth  of  spirit- 
ual impression,  surpassed  all  expectation. 

The  summer  that  followed  the  Australasian  campaign 
was  given  by  Dr.  Chapman  to  preparation  for  the  Scottish 
mission  that  was  scheduled  to  begin  in  Glasgow  October 
fifth,  1913. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  September,  with  Mrs.  Chapman, 


262     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

he  sailed  on  the  Lasitania  for  Liverpool,  arriving  there  on 
the  twenty-ninth.  They  went  to  London  and,  on  Saturday 
October  fourth,  they  were  at  Glasgow  for  the  mission  that 
was  to  open  the  following  day. 

The  campaign  continued  for  eleven  weeks  and  closed  on 
Sunday,  December  twenty-first.  Though  five  weeks  were 
given  to  different  sections  of  the  city,  the  main  meetings 
were  held  in  St.  Andrew's  Hall. 

Convinced  by  the  Committee  that  the  work  in  Glasgow 
must  not  cease,  Dr.  Chapman  promised  to  return  in  March 
for  another  mission  after  the  close  of  the  campaign  in  Edin- 
burgh. 

The  Christmas  holidays  were  spent  in  London  and  Paris 
and,  January  eighteenth,  the  work  began  in  Edinburgh 
and  continued  through  March  fourth. 

This  Edinburgh  mission  was  followed  by  a  second  cam- 
paign of  three  weeks  in  Glasgow;  and  then,  after  a  confer- 
ence tour  of  three  weeks  through  the  highlands,  on  April 
eleventh,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  took  passage  on  the 
iMsitania  for  New  York. 

Some  conception  of  the  extent  and  influence  of  the 
Scottish  mission  may  be  derived  from  the  testimony  of  those 
who  were  personally  and  intimately  related  to  it.  The 
Scottish  people  are  cautious,  and  slow  of  emotional  impulse; 
but  to  the  religious  appeal,  when  it  rings  true,  they  are  cor- 
dial and  responsive.  Within  their  rigid  and  angular  ex- 
teriors beat  warm  hearts.  You  may  be  long  in  winning  .their 
confidence  but  you  will  be  longer  in  losing  it.  Dr.  Chapman 
won  them  from  the  start.  He  won  them  to  himself  because 
he  had  won  them  first  for  Christ. 

In  the  report  of  the  meeting  for  converts  only,  held  on 
Friday  night  preceding  the  close  of  the  first  Glasgow  cam- 


SCOTLAND  263 

paign,  it  was  stated  that,  in  addition  to  St.  Andrew's  Hall, 
three  neighbouring  churches  were  required  to  accommodate 
the  crowds.  These  churches  were  first  visited  by  Dr. 
Chapman  who  then  came  to  St.  Andrew's  Hall: 

It  was  arranged  that  the  audiences  from  the  churches  should  pass 
through  the  hall  and  receive  souvenirs  of  helpful  printed  matter.  For 
an  hour  the  vast  concourse  streamed  through  the  building.  It  was  a 
revelation  of  the  marvellous  work  of  grace  that  has  penetrated  to  the 
very  heart  of  the  people  of  the  city.  During  this  lengthy  procession 
hymn  after  hymn  was  sung.  It  was  a  night  of  triumph  when  ten 
thousand  or  more  trophies  of  grace  acknowledged  their  newfound 
Saviour. 

After  the  great  throngs  from  the  outside  churches  had 
filed  through  the  building  the  men  alone  of  the  St.  Andrew's 
Hall  audience  were  invited  to  come  forward. 

Another  great  army  arose  and  passed  down  the  side  aisle.  It  was 
thrilUng  to  witness  such  a  procession. 

When  the  men  and  youths  had  resumed  their  seats,  the  hour  was  so 
late  that  Doctor  Chapman  intimated  that  the  souvenirs  would  be 
passed  to  the  few  thousand  women  and  girls  still  remaming  where 
they  sat.  Mr.  Alexander  kept  the  audience  singing  hymns  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving.  Members  of  the  Committee  assisted  in  the 
distribution  of  printed  matter;  personal  workers  greeted  those  whom 
they  had  recently  led  to  Christ.  Everybody  was  amazed  at  the 
experience  of  the  evening.  Ministers  were  present  in  large  numbers, 
and  had  a  demonstration  of  the  power  of'the  Spirit  of  God  such  as  they 
had  not  seen  for  many  a  day. 

At  the  closing  service  on  Sunday  night  ^'the  building  was 
packed  to  suffocation  by  six  o'clock  and  thousands  were  un- 
able to  gain  admission." 

A  fair  estimate  of  the  whole  Scottish  campaign  may  be 
derived  from  the  testimonies  of  men  not  given  to  overstate- 
ment. 


264     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Edinburgh  mission  the  British 
Weekly,  in  a  special  edition,  stated : 

The  mission  which  has  been  conducted  in  Edinburgh  during  the 
last  six  weeks  by  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  and  Mr.  Charles  M.  Alexan- 
der seems  to  have  gone  deeper  and  spread  wider  than  any  similar 
movement  for  a  generation  at  least.  We  have  accordingly  asked 
Principal  Whyte  and  Dr.  George  Wilson,  representing  respectively  the 
Church  of  Scotland  and  the  United  Free  Church,  and  Sir  Alexander 
R.  Simpson,  who  is  joint  Convener  with  the  Master  of  Polworth  of  the 
Committee  which  organized  the  mission,  to  give  briefly  their  im- 
pressions of  the  mission. 

Principal  Whyte  replied  as  follows: 

No  church  or  country  has  received  such  fulfillment  of  the  promise 
of  times  of  refreshing  as  old  Scotland  has  done,  and  this  present  great 
and  genuine  movement  of  God's  spirit  among  us  will  take  rank  with 
the  greatest  movements  in  the  past,  and  Doctor  Chapman's  name  will 
always  be  lined  in  our  memories  and  in  our  children's  memories  with 
the  great  names  of  Rutherford,  Livingstone,  Chalmers,  and  M'Cheyne, 
and  I  shall  expect  to  look  forward,  if  I  am  spared,  to  seeing  scores  of 
students  coming  to  our  colleges  and  tracing  their  conversion  and 
dedication  to  this  great  movement. 

Dr.  George  Wilson  sent  this  answer: 

I  have  been  through  all  the  spiritual  movements  in  Edinburgh  and 
in  Scotland  for  the  last  fifty  years,  and  I  have  seen  nothing  so  deep  in 
its  influence  and  fruitful  in  its  results  as  the  mission  of  Doctor  Chap- 
man and  Mr.  Alexander.  The  crowds  have  grown  steadily,  and  the 
interest  now  when  the  mission  is  closing  is  at  full  tide.  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  it  will  spread  even  after  the  honoured  brethren  have 
left  us,  for  the  teaching  of  Doctor  Chapman  has  gone  in  deeply,  and  he 
has  covered  the  whole  plan  of  God  for  a  Christian  life.  The  mission 
gives  us  all  the  greatest  promise  of  a  deep  and  lasting  work  of  the 
spirit  of  God  to  those  who  have  come  under  the  influence  of  the 
mission.  I  have  never  heard  an  evangelist  so  lucid  in  his  statements, 
so  absolutely  free  from  abstract  theological  terms,  so  true  to  Scripture, 
and  so  intensely  practical.  In  every  address  he  spoke  as  if  something 
immediately  was  to  take  place  in  the  lives  of  his  hearers.  The  abso- 
lute hush  and  stillness  of  the  unparalleled  crowd  he  addressed  in  the 


SCOTLAND  265 

Olyinpia  was  the  clearest  manifestation  of  the  presence  and  working  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  As  an  old  man  I  rejoice  to  have  been  spared  to  see 
what  I  believe  to  be  the  most  wonderful  spiritual  movement  since  the 
days  of  Whitfield  and  Wesley. 

Sir  Alexander  Simpson  wrote: 

The  Olympia  has  been  a  revelation  of  Edinburgh  to  itself  of  its  needs 
and  of  its  longing  for  spiritual  blessing.  Up  to  this  time  it  has  never 
had  evangelistic  meetings  in  so  large  a  place  capable  of  seating  six 
thousand  people.  The  Corn  Exchange,  in  the  Grass  market,  has 
never  seen  such  a  gathering  as  it  did  last  Thursday  night  when  Doctor 
Chapman  had  the  opportunity  of  facing  a  company  of  about  four 
thousand  of  the  poorest  of  our  inhabitants.  But  in  the  Olympia 
yesterday,  with  its  three  tides  of  service,  there  could  not  have  been 
less  than  eighteen  thousand  people  during  the  course  of  the  afternoon 
and  evening  brought  within  the  sound  of  the  Gospel.  It  should  be 
noted  besides  that  in  the  morning  at  nine-thirty  Doctor  Chapman 
addressed  a  large  gathering  of  members  of  the  Sabbath  Morning 
Fellowship  in  the  Free  Assembly  Hall,  and  preached  in  the  forenoon  in 
Doctor  Forrest's  large  church  in  Morningside,  to  which  some  were 
unable  to  gain  admission,  and  in  the  afternoon  preached  the  University 
sermon  in  St.  Giles'  Cathedral. 

The  impression  made  by  this  mission  is  wide  and  deep,  and  promises 
to  leave  results  of  a  lasting  character. 

The  entire  mission  was  so  extraordinarily  fruitful  that 
immediate  steps  were  taken  to  secure  the  return  of  the 
*'Missioners."  This  is  evident  from  a  letter,  a  copy  of 
which  lies  before  me  and  reads  as  follows: 

The  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 

Offices,  112  George  Street, 
Edinburgh,  April  10th,  1914. 
Rev.  W.  H.  Roberts,  D.D., 
Witherspoon  Building, 
Philadelphia,  Penna.,  U.  S.  A. 

Dear  Dr.  Roberts: 

You  have  no  doubt  learned  much  as  to  the  striking  success  that 
attended  the  visit  of  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  to  Scotland. 
Their  missions  in  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh  were  from  every  point  of 


266     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

view  most  remarkable.  Never  in  the  history  of  the  country  had  we 
such  large  attendances  at  evangelistic  services,  nor  have  we  ever  had 
such  numbers  professing  conversion:  and  as  the  result  of  these  missions 
in  our  two  leading  cities,  interest  has  been  awakened  in  Doctor  Chap- 
man and  his  work  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Scotland. 

My  official  position  as  Secretary  of  the  Central  Fund  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  ministry  of  our  Church,  and  also  my  work  as  Superinten- 
dent of  Missions  in  the  Highlands  and  Islands,  brings  me  into  touch 
with  our  ministers  and  people  all  over  the  land,  so  that  I  can  speak  at 
first  hand  as  to  how  wide  a  door  and  effectual  has  now  been  opened  for 
Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  in  every  part  of  Scotland. 
They  have  won  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  affection,  good-will,  and 
confidence  of  ministers  and  Christian  workers  in  all  the  churches. 

As  a  young  minister  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  associated  a  good  deal 
with  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey,  and  indeed  I  arranged  a  special  tour 
they  took  in  the  provinces.  It  was  this  fact,  I  think,  that  led  the 
Executive  Committee  in  Glasgow  having  charge  of  Doctor  Chapman's 
missions  to  ask  me  to  arrange  for  conferences  in  centres  to  be  held 
during  the  last  three  weeks.  Immediately  we  were  inundated  with 
requests  for  visits  to  provincial  towns  from  the  Solway  to  the  Pentland 
Firth,  and  ultimately  arranged  for  conferences  in  centres  like  Inver- 
ness, Aberdeen,  Perth,  Dundee,  Falkirk,  Paisley,  Kilmarnock,  Ayr,  and 
Dumfries.  The  reports  from  all  these  districts  as  to  the  impression 
made  in  connection  with  the  ministerial  conferences  and  evangelistic 
meetings  held  are  extremely  gratifying.  I  was  present  at  Inverness 
for  three  days,  and  must  say  that  the  impression  at  the  conferences 
with  ministers  surpassed  anything  that  I  have  experienced  in  my 
ministry  of  over  forty  years. 

My  brethren  who  have  responsibility  about  the  work  of  our  Church 
feel  with  me  that  it  would  be  a  great  calamity  in  connection  with  the 
spiritual  interests  of  Scotland  unless  our  honoured  friends  were  able  to 
give  us  a  return  visit  at  the  earliest  possible  date.  We  have  already 
work  planned  out  that  would  keep  them  occupied  for  eighteen  months 
or  more. 

While  I  write  officially  as  connected  with  the  United  Free  Church, 
I  may  say  that  ministers  and  office  bearers  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
and  of  the  smaller  bodies  in  the  country  are  just  as  anxious  about  a 
return  visit  from  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  as  any  of  the 
ministers  or  office-bearers  of  the  United  Free  Church  can  be.  In 
Inverness  we  had  the  Church  of  Scotland  ministers  and  missionaries 
uniting  cordially  with  ministers  and  missionaries  of  the  United  Free 


SCOTLAND  267 

Church  at  these  conferences,  for  the  first  time  since  the  Disruption  of 
1843. 

I  enclose  a  copy  of  a  letter  which  Principal  Iverach,  Moderator 
of  the  United  Free  Church — who  I  understand  knows  you  personally — 
wrote  to  me  with  his  impressions  of  the  Inverness  conferences.  If 
desired,  I  can  forward  also  copies  of  communications  that  I  expect  to 
receive  from  leading  brethren  of  both  the  Church  of  Scotland  and 
our  own  Church,  in  the  centres  where  these  special  short  missions  were 
held. 

On  my  own  account,  as  well  as  on  behalf  of  hundreds  of  my  brethren 
in  the  ministry,  and  thousands  of  our  people,  I  cordially  thank, 
through  you,  your  Assembly  for  the  privilege  we  have  already  had  in 
connection  with  Doctor  Chapman's  visit:  while  I  earnestly  pray  that 
your  Assembly  may  cordially  agree  to  what  I  can  truly  say  is  the 
urgent  and  unanimous  request  of  ministers,  office-bearers,  and  Chris- 
tian workers  in  the  Scottish  Churches  for  a  return  visit  of  Doctor 
Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander,  toward  whom  we  cherish  great  af- 
fection, and  through  whose  ministry  our  hearts  have  been  cheered  and 
our  hands  greatly  strengthened. 

With  much  respect,  I  remain. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

(signed)  Alexander  Lee. 

The  letter  from  Principal  Iverach,  to  which  Mr.  Lee 
makes  reference,  gives  a  glowing  account  of  the  conference 
at  Inverness,  and  we  are  sure  that  without  violation  of  con- 
fidence a  transcript  may  be  given: 

12  Ferryhill  Place, 
Aberdeen,  April,  1914. 

Dear  Mr.  Lee: 

I  feel  that  I  must  write  you  to  tell  something  of  the  impression  which 
the  meetings  at  Inverness  made  on  me.  Owing  to  the  pressure  of  work 
I  had  not  had  the  privilege  of  being  present  at  any  of  the  meetings  held 
by  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  in  Glasgow  and  in  Edinburgh. 
I  had  read  about  these  meetings,  as  they  were  reported,  and  I  was 
thankful  to  read  of  them,  and  as  I  read,  I  was  persuaded  that  a  great 
work  of  grace  was  going  on  under  the  instrumentality  of  these  hon- 
oured servants  of  Christ.  But  to  read  of  the  meetings  was  one  thing, 
to  be  present  at  some  of  them  quite  another.   I  had  the  glad  experience 


268     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

of  being  present  at  the  meetings  at  Inverness,  and  of  sharing 
the  experience  which  so  many  have  experienced  in  Edinburgh 
and  in  Glasgow.  I  am  very  thankful  for  the  opportunity  of  being 
present. 

First,  I  do  not  believe  that  I  was  ever  present  at  any  meetings  of  the 
kind  in  all  the  past.  No  such  audience  had  ever  gathered  at  Inver- 
ness. I  never  saw  the  ministers  and  office-bearers  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  and  of  the  United  Free  Church  gathered  together  in  one 
audience,  to  worship,  to  seek  the  divine  blessing  on  their  common 
mother  country,  to  pray  together  for  the  outpouring  (A  the  spirit  of 
God  on  their  native  land,  and  to  wait  together  for  the  answer  to  their 
united  prayer.  I  was  struck  with  the  feeling  of  brotherhood  in  all  the 
meetings.  Differences  seemed  to  have  disappeared,  there  was  the 
feeling  of  a  common  need,  the  aspiration  of  a  common  hope,  and  the 
earnest  desire  that  God  should  revive  themselves  first,  and  use  them, 
one  and  all,  for  the  revival  of  the  Highlands.  The  tone  and  spirit  of 
the  meetings  were  something  to  rejoice  in,  and  to  give  thanks 
for.  I  was  touched  beyond  expression,  and  as  the  days  passed,  I 
was  filled  with  hope  and  expectation,  and  I  believe  that  these  meetings 
will  have  fruit  and  effect  in  the  Highlands  for  many  days  to 
come. 

Then  as  to  the  men  who  were  in  the  forefront  in  these  meetings. 
They  need  no  commendation  of  mine.  They  have  been  used  by  God 
in  many  lands,  and  their  praise  is  in  all  the  churches.  I  need  say 
nothing  about  the  gifts  of  Mr.  Alexander,  but  I  do  say  that  I  was  im- 
pressed with  the  restraint  which  he  placed  on  himself.  He  never  used 
his  great  musical  gifts  for  personal  display.  One  felt  that  these  gifts 
were  felt  by  him  not  to  be  his  own.  They  were  given  to  him  for  the 
service  of  the  master.  So  he  used  them  in  service,  and  for  the  en- 
couragement of  others  to  use  like  gifts  entrusted  to  them.  His  com- 
mand over  the  people  was  great,  and  the  enthusiasm  he  caused  was 
striking.  But  the  main  thing  was  the  fact  that  all  his  work  in  his 
part  of  the  meeting  was  service,  service  to  Christ. 

I  fear  that  any  words  I  may  use  regarding  Doctor  Chapman  may 
seem  extravagant.  In  the  personal  intercourse  I  had  with  him  I  was 
impressed  with  his  modesty,  with  his  unconsciousness  of  himself,  with 
his  immersion  in  his  work,  and  his  eager  desire  to  work  for  the  good  of 
men.  He  was  ready  to  listen,  and  he  was  also  ready  to  give  the  bene- 
fit of  his  unique  experience  to  those  to  whom  he  spoke.  The  con- 
versation I  had  with  him — all  too  brief — was  stimulating  and  full  of 
interest  and  edification.    As  to  his  management  of  the  meetings,  it 


SCOTLAND  269 

was  wonderful.  At  the  meeting  of  ministers  with  which  the  series  of 
meetings  began,  Doctor  Chapman  set  himself  to  create  an  atmosphere, 
to  establish  a  fellowship  with  his  audience.  He  and  his  audience  were 
strangers  to  one  another,  and  they  must  be  brought  into  a  community 
of  feeling  and  interest.  With  great  tact  and  with  experienced  skill 
Doctor  Chapman  made  himself  and  the  brethren  at  home  with  each 
other.  He  dominated  the  situation,  the  feeling  of  community  widened, 
and  soon  they  were  with  one  accord  in  one  place.  The  spiritual 
temperature  was  rising,  the  singing  took  on  a  new  earnestness,  the 
listening  became  more  intense,  and  ere  the  meeting  ended,  those 
present  were  attuned  to  a  higher  level  of  expectation.  Quietly  Doctor 
Chapman  went  on,  and  quietly  and  more  earnestly  the  audience 
yielded  themselves  to  him,  until  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  the  interest 
was  alive  and  expectation  waited  for  the  meetings  which  were  to 
come. 

I  need  not  speak  of  the  other  meetings.  The  people  thronged  to 
meet  him,  and  the  interest  deepened  as  the  days  went  on.  What 
struck  me  in  particular  as  altogether  admirable  was  the  intense  de- 
sire of  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  not  to  put  themselves  into 
an  attitude  of  opposition  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  as  this  is  exer- 
cised in  the  churches.  Not  one  note  could  be  heard  of  any  such 
attitude.  Rather  the  desire  was  apparent  that  the  ministry  of  the 
word  within  the  churches  should  be  in  very  truth  a  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation, and  that  each  minister  should  be  quickened  in  order  to 
make  the  work  done  by  Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  features 
of  their  ordinary  ministry.  I  felt  that  this  must  really  come  to  pass 
if  the  work  of  Christ  is  to  be  done.  Why  should  it  not  be?  It  needs 
only  the  quickening  of  the  ministers  of  the  Church  in  order  that  it 
should  be.  And  one  thing  that  commends  the  work  of  these  honoured 
servants  of  Christ  to  me  is  their  constant  endeavour  to  make  ministers 
of  Christ  stir  up  the  gifts  which  are  already  within  them  and  to  make 
full  proof  of  their  ministry. 

I  almost  feel  like  making  an  apology  to  you  for  writing,  and  for 
writing  at  such  length,  but  I  felt  bound  to  tell  you  something  of  what  I 
have  felt  in  connection  with  these  meetings. 

I  am, 

Yours  very  truly, 

(signed)  James  Iverach. 

On  May  twenty-sixth,  1914,  the  Scottish  Committee  met 
in  Edinburgh  the  Joint  Executives  for  Edinburgh  and 


270    J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Glasgow  districts.    The  following  extract  from  the  Minutes 
of  that  meeting  may  be  of  interest: 


Mr.  Ridland  reported  that,  in  accordance  with  the  proposal  made 
at  last  meeting,  it  had  been  arranged  that  deputations  should  be  re- 
ceived by  the  Assembly  of  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  at 
seven  o'clock  that  evening,  and  by  the  Assembly  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  shortly  after  noon  on  Thursday  twenty-eighth  of  May,  in 
order  that  they  might  report  on  the  work  of  the  past  winter  and 
solicit  the  prayerful  interest  and  cooperation  of  the  churches  in  the 
work  to  be  undertaken  next  winter;  and  further  that  the  Rev.  Dr. 
George  Wilson  and  Mr.  Alexander  Sloan  should  be  the  spokesmen  of 
the  deputation  in  the  United  Free  Church  Assembly,  and  the  Rev. 
Doctor  Wells  and  Sir  Alexander  Simpson  in  the  Church  of  Scotland 
Assembly. 

A  list  giving  the  membership  of  the  Scottish  Committee  for  the 
Chapman-Alexander  Missions,  so  far  as  it  had  been  formed,  was  laid 
on  the  table.  It  was  remitted  to  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Fulton,  in  con- 
sultation with  several  members  present,  to  have  it  made  still  more 
widely  representative,  in  respect  both  of  the  various  districts  of  Scot- 
land and  of  the  religious  denominations. 

Suggestions  having  been  submitted  for  the  readjustment  of  the 
organization  of  the  Committee  and  its  Executives,  it  was  agreed 
that  the  Executives  appointed  for  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  districts 
should  be  called  Sub-Committees  (of  the  General  Committee),  and 
that  they  should  exist  for  the  purpose  of  supervising  prescribed  areas, 
of  seeking  to  stimulate  interest  in  evangelistic  work  within  these 
areas,  and  of  receiving  applications  for  special  missions  and 
passing  them  with  recommendations  to  a  small  Executive  to  be 
appointed  with  powers  to  make  final  arrangements  for  Scotland 
as  a  whole. 

In  conformity  with  the  foregoing  decision  it  was  further  agreed  that 
Aberdeen,  Dundee,  Perth,  Kirkcaldy,  Hawick,  and  Galashiels,  should 
fall  within  the  Edinburgh  District,  and  that  Inverness,  Stirling, 
Falkirk,  Paisley,  Kilmarnock,  Ayr,  and  Dumfries,  should  fall  within 
the  Glasgow  District. 

Several  members  presenc  naving  pressed  the  claims  of  Fifeshire  for 
special  mission  work,  it  was  agreed  to  recommend  that  the  Executive 
should  favourably  consider  the  application  received  from  Kirkcaldy 
District. 


SCOTLAND  271 

Mr.  Ridland  wrote  to  Dr.  Chapman  stating  that  the  As- 
semblies had  received  the  deputations  and  were  unanimous 
in  welcoming  the  proposal  for  the  return  in  the  autumn. 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Chapman,  dated  June  fifteenth,  1914, 
Dr.  Alexander  Frazer,  pastor  of  St.  Stephen's  United  Free 
Church,  Edinburgh,  wrote: 

We  in  Scotland  look  back  upon  the  campaign  with  joy  and  thanks- 
giving, and  in  our  Church  life  and  work  are  daily  reminded  of  the 
victories  achieved  by  the  evidences  of  new  life  and  power  in  our  midst. 
The  Olympia  is  writ  large  upon  the  religious  life  of  Edinburgh,  while 
your  visit  to  Inverness  will  prove  memorable  in  the  evangelism  of  the 
Highlands. 

Our  General  Assembly  has  just  closed  its  sittings  and  may  I  say  that 
the  spirit  of  gratitude  for  your  work  in  Scotland,  which  found  con- 
stant enthusiasm  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  was  remarkable,  and  the 
spirit  of  expectation  which  gathers  around  your  return  to  Scotland  is 
very  deep  and  widespread.  Some  weeks  ago  I  fulfilled  an  engagement 
in  Aberdeen  and  was  greatly  impressed  by  the  eagerness  which 
abounds  in  that  city  with  regard  to  the  coming  campaign. 

I  expect  to  visit  the  north  and  west  where  I  shall  come  into  touch 
with  many  of  the  ministers  who  got  enthused  and  blessed  at  Inverness. 
Indeed  I  can  never  think  of  Inverness— a  place  I  know  so  well— love  so 
much — without  recalling  those  three  days.  They  were  remarkable! 
They  were  memorable,  and  the  ministers  who  were  present  shall  never 
forget  them  in  time — nor  in  eternity.  I  wonder  if  you  saw  the  account 
of  our  visit  and  meetings  there  which  appeared  in  the  United  Free 
Church  Record,  written  by  the  editor  who  was  present.  I  thought  of 
sending  you  a  copy  but  concluded  that  your  mail  would  in  all  likeli- 
hood bring  you  a  sack  full. 

We  look  for  your  return  and  await  your  coming  with  much  prayer 
and  great  hope.  That  the  tide  is  rising  in  this  country  is  to  my  mind 
a  gracious  and  heartening  fact.     May  the  waters  roll  in  great  volume! 

Please  convey  kind  greetings  to  Mrs.  Chapman  and  believe  me, 
dear  Doctor  Chapman,  I  am, 

Very  sincerely, 

(signed)  Alexander  Frazer. 

Great  plans  were  projected,  fair  hopes  were  cherished: 
all  to  be  blasted.    By  the  rattle  of  the  sabre  the  world 


272     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN--A  BIOGRAPHY 

was  warned  that  the  German  serpent  was  uncoiling  to 
strike. 

As  we  look  back  over  these  extraordinary  religious  awaken- 
ings which,  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Chapman,  so  quick- 
ened the  churches  and  so  effectively  pressed  the  claims  of 
God  upon  the  conscience  of  multitudes,  we  cannot  escape 
the  conviction  that  God,  in  gracious  providence,  was  reap- 
ing a  spiritual  harvest  before  He  permitted  the  outburst  of 
the  revolutionary  forces  that  have  overwhelmed  the  world, 
impoverished  almost  every  nation,  produced  economic 
and  social  chaos,  and  stained  with  dishonour  the  pride  of 
Christian  civilization. 

In  the  history  of  revivals  it  has  often  been  noted  that  such 
restoral  periods  are  a  warning  of,  and  synchronize  with,  im- 
pending judgment.  The  harvest  is  gathered  before  the  field 
is  doomed  to  death. 

Dr.  Chapman,  acutely  sensitive  to  the  signs  of  the  times, 
was  convinced  that  perilous  days  were  impending,  but  he 
had  no  conception  of  the  unparalleled  calamity  that  was  so 
soon  to  flood  the  world  with  blood  and  tears. 

Long  before  the  time  fixed  for  his  return  to  Scotland  the 
skies  were  red  with  the  flames  of  war. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

IN  PERILOUS  TIMES 

The  shot  that  rang  out  in  the  capital  of  Bosnia  on  June 
twenty-eighth,  1914,  started  the  avalanche  that  crumpled 
up  civilization  and  rolled  it  back  into  barbarism. 

The  murder  of  the  royal  couple  was  the  pretext  for  the 
humiliation  of  Serbia  by  Austria;  and  on  August  fourth, 
the  day  when  the  Germans  began  their  invasion  of  Belgium, 
Great  Britain  declared  war,  and  the  United  States,  consis- 
tent with  the  conservative  policy  of  non-interference  with 
foreign  governments,  proclaimed  neutrality.  Six  days 
later,  on  the  tenth  of  August,  diplomatic  relations  between 
France  and  Austria  were  broken;  Belgiimi  refused  free 
passage  to  the  German  troops,  and  war  on  Austria  was  de- 
clared by  Great  Britain.  On  the  fifteenth  Japan  delivered 
an  ultimatum  to  Germany,  and  Austrian  troops  were  march- 
ing into  Serbia.  On  the  eighteenth  the  Serbians,  winning 
a  decisive  victory,  cleared  their  country  of  the  Austrian 
forces,  and  Russia  completed  the  mobilization  of  her  army. 
Two  days  later  the  Germans  on  the  plea  of  necessity — re- 
pudiating international  obligations — marched  into  Brussels. 
On  the  twenty-third  of  August  Sir  John  French  atMons,  with 
less  than  one  himdred  thousand  men,  held  in  check  more 
than  double  that  number  of  Germans  and  repelled  on  the 
left  an  attack  by  fifty  thousand  more.  On  this  memorable 
day  Dr.  Chapman  received  notice  that  the  Scottish  mission 
had  been  definitely  postponed. 

273 


274     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

While  many  people  had  looked  on  with  passive  indiffer- 
ence, as  nation  after  nation  was  sucked  into  the  vortex,  Dr. 
Chapman  with  deepening  concern  viewed  the  developing 
tragedy.  He  held  that  the  moral  collapse  of  the  German 
people  was  the  bitter  fruit  of  destructive  Biblical  criticism, 
and  that  Germany  going  back — as  Froude  said  of  Rome — 
"into  madness  and  atheism"  could  be  saved  only  through 
the  prostration  of  her  strength. 

In  April  Dr.  Chapman  had  left  Scotland  with  a  promise 
to  return,  and  immediately  thereafter  the  Scottish  Execu- 
tive had  projected  a  programme  to  cover  the  important 
sections  of  their  country,  and  to  extend  if  possible  the  cam- 
paign through  England. 

The  outbreak  of  the  war  wrecked  all  programmes,  politi- 
cal, social,  industrial,  and  religious;  and  Dr.  Chapman's 
plan  of  a  campaign  in  Scotland  was  shattered. 

The  Scottish  proposal  had  contemplated  a  mission  under 
the  direction  of  the  London  Central  Y.  M.  C.  A.  The 
original  engagement  with  Dr.  Chapman  was  for  eight 
days,  beginning  September  twentieth;  but  Mr.  J.  J.  Virgo, 
the  Secretary,  cabled  that  additional  opportunities  were 
opening,  that  any  indefinite  postponement  of  the  mis- 
sion would  prove  disastrous,  and  that  the  time  should  be 
extended. 

Dr.  Chapman  replied  that  he  could  not  leave  America 
before  the  latter  part  of  September.  This  proving  satisfac- 
tory to  the  London  Committee  he  and  Mrs.  Chapman  took 
passage  on  the  Lusitania  starting  from  New  York  on  the 
twenty-third  of  September.  The  voyage  was  exceedingly 
rough.  They  were  delayed  thirty-six  hours  by  a  dense 
fog,  and  to  escape  possible  submarines  they  sailed,  under 
protection  of  British  cruisers,  over  the  course  usually  taken 


IN  PERILOUS  TIMES  275 

by  Canadian  boats.  The  steamer  was  due  to  arrive  in 
Liverpool  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  September,  the  anniver- 
sary of  Mrs.  Chapman's  birth,  and,  in  honour  of  that  event, 
the  chief  steward  gave  an  "advance"  birthday  dinner  on 
the  twenty-seventh.  Two  days  later  they  were  in  Liverpool 
and  proceeded  at  once  to  London. 

The  city  was  seething  with  excitement.  The  German 
guns  were  bombarding  the  forts  of  Antwerp  and,  on  the  day 
following,  the  fortifications,  together  with  important  build- 
ings of  that  great  city,  were  destroyed. 

Meetings  for  men  were  held  each  day  at  noon  in  the  his- 
toric Guildhall,  which  noble  building  had  never  before — ex- 
cept once  for  the  Bishop  of  London — been  opened  for  re- 
ligious services. 

The  evening  meetings  at  7:30  were  held  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
at  Tottenham  Court  Road. 

All  services  were  largely  attended  and  were  pervaded  by 
a  spirit  of  deep  solemnity.  During  the  week  that  followed 
these  services  eight  days,  covering  two  Sundays  and  a  week 
between,  were  given  to  the  Metropolitan  Tabernacle.  Dr. 
A.  C.  Dixon,  the  pastor,  taking  advantage  of  the  presence 
of  Dr.  Chapman  in  London,  invited  him  to  extend  his  time 
for  a  week  and  hold  a  series  of  meetings  in  the  Tabernacle 
still  fragrant  with  the  memory  of  Spurgeon.  The  invita- 
tion was  accepted  and  the  meetings  attracted  great  crowds, 
the  immense  building  being  packed,  many  standing  in  the 
top  gallery. 

In  addition  to  these  meetings  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alex- 
ander held  services  of  wonderful  blessing  to  the  men  in  the 
camps  on  Salisbury  Plain. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  intensive  campaign  in  London 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  on  Wednesday,  the  twenty-first 


276     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

of  October,  made  a  flying  trip  to  Glasgow  to  meet  some  old 
friends  and  to  hold  reunion  meetings. 

Leaving  Glasgow  on  Friday,  the  twenty-third,  for  Liver- 
pool they  sailed  on  the  following  day  for  New  York. 

On  that  day  the  British  warships  were  shelling  Flanders, 
and  the  heroic  Belgians,  breaking  the  dikes,  loosed  a  flood 
that  engulfed  thousands  of  Germans. 

The  Lusitania,  following  the  northern  route  and  protected 
by  cruisers,  with  no  little  strain  on  the  nerves  of  her  passen- 
gers, arrived  in  New  York  on  October  thirty-first. 

On  that  day  the  terrific  battle  of  Ypres  began.  Turkey 
was  next  swept  into  the  swirling  flood.  Bulgaria  remained 
neutral.  •  By  November  tenth  the  German  advance  had  been 
checked  and  the  conflicting  forces  began  their  long  and 
wearisome  trench  warfare. 

Dr.  Chapman,  after  a  few  days  at  Warsaw  with  his  sister, 
went  to  Culpeper,  Virginia,  the  home  of  his  son  Wilbur,  and 
there  spent  a  few  days  of  rest.  He  afterward  attended  va- 
rious Bible  conferences  and  then  proceeded  to  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  for  his  Christmas  holidays. 

The  year  1915  opened  with  a  prospect  of  a  long  and  bitter 
conflict.  Lord  Kitchener,  the  British  Secretary  of  State 
for  War,  announced  in  the  House  of  Lords  that  Great  Britain 
must  furnish  an  army  of  two  million  men. 

Dr.  Chapman,  in  conference  with  leading  churchmen  in 
Ireland,  Scotland,  and  England,  concerning  further  evangel- 
istic campaigns  in  those  countries,  decided  that  for  the  pres- 
ent at  least  no  definite  arrangements  should  be  made.  His 
friends  were  of  the  opinion  that  he  should  remain  in  America 
and  give  consideration  to  invitations  that  were  pouring 
in  from  all  sections  of  the  country. 

While  Canada  was  throbbing  with  excitement  and  mobil- 


IN  PERILOUS  TIMES  277 

izing  her  men,  the  United  States  Government  continued  the 
exchange  of  diplomatic  notes.  Throughout  the  country, 
however,  there  prevailed  a  grave  apprehension  of  peril  im- 
pending, and  churches,  North  and  South,  appealed  to  Dr. 
Chapman  to  lead  them  in  a  movement  for  the  deepening 
of  the  spiritual  life. 

The  first  campaign  was  held  in  Lima,  Ohio,  and  continued 
from  January  seventh  to  February  first,  1915.  The 
churches  were  quickened  and  many  decisions  made  for 
Christ. 

Conferences  in  Alliance  and  Marion  followed,  and  on 
February  eighth  Dr.  Chapman  completed  preparations  for 
a  mission  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  to  open  on  the  fourteenth 
and  to  continue  through  March  twenty-eighth. 

Germany  had  drawn  around  Great  Britain  a  war  zone 
of  water  through  which  on  February  sixth  the  Lusitania, 
flying  the  American  flag,  sailed  in  safety.  On  the  eigh- 
teenth of  the  month  the  decree  was  made  effective,  subma- 
rine warfare  inaugurated  against  the  ships  of  belligerents, 
and  neutral  vessels  warned  that  they  were  subject  to  the 
same  danger.  At  the  opening  of  the  Italian  Parliament 
mobs,  clamouring  for  a  declaration  of  war,  marched  through 
the  streets  of  Rome,  demanding  a  settlement  of  Italy's 
long  account  with  Austria. 

While  the  war  thus  raged  in  Europe  extensive  preparations 
were  going  on  for  the  spiritual  campaign  in  Atlanta.  For 
months  home  prayer  meetings  had  been  held  in  all  sections 
of  the  city.  The  ministers,  with  absolute  unanimity,  had 
pledged  their  support,  a  large  tabernacle,  especially  built 
for  the  occasion,  flanked  on  either  side  by  the  Governor's 
Mansion  and  the  University  Club,  had  been  erected  on 
Peachtree  Street.    Along  this  splendid  thoroughfare  great 


278     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

crowds  of  people  surged  day  after  day  and  filled  the  taber- 
nacle to  capacity.  Never  before  in  its  history  had  the 
religious  leadership  of  the  city  been  so  cordially  united. 
The  final  report  of  the  Executive  Committee  stated  that, 
at  two  hundred  meetings,  there  had  been  an  aggregate  at- 
tendance of  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
people.  ''Nothing  but  the  everlasting  Gospel'' — so  the 
report  reads — "could  attract  the  crowds  that  had  gathered 
day  and  night  through  six  weeks." 

Dr.  Richard  Orme  Flinn,  pastor  of  the  North  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  one  of  the  most  influential  of  the 
ministers  in  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  reported 
that  "three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  people 
had  been  added  to  the  church,  and  that  of  this  number  more 
than  two  thousand  were  on  profession  of  faith." 

In  a  letter  written  to  Dr.  Chapman  at  the  close  of  the 
campaign  he  said:  "By  common  consent  the  work  you  have 
done  in  Atlanta  is  judged  to  be  the  most  thoroughgoing 
that  has  ever  been  accomplished  by  any  similar  meeting. 
You  have  left  us  with  the  feeling  that  your  service  was  merely 
the  preparatory  service  to  a  larger  and  longer  campaign." 

In  a  telegram,  received  May  sixth  Dr.  Chapman  was  in- 
formed that  the  accessions  to  the  Atlanta  churches  had  in- 
creased to  four  thousand  six  hundred  and  twelve  and  that, 
in  addition,  five  thousand  people  had  joined  the  Pocket 
Testament  League. 

The  Atlanta  campaign  was  brought  to  a  close  on  March 
twenty-eighth,  and  on  the  following  day  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Chapman  went  to  Asheville,  North  Carolina,  for  a  brief  rest 
before  beginning  work  in  Charlotte.  The  campaign  in 
Charlotte  began  on  April  fourth  and  continued  until  May 
ninth. 


IN  PERILOUS  TIMES  279 

A  large  tabernacle  had  been  erected  and  was  nightly- 
crowded  with  audiences  of  between  three  and  four  thousand 
people. 

The  farewell  service  was  held  in  the  historic  churchyard 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  By  a  conservative  esti- 
mate, made  on  that  memorable  occasion,  not  less  than 
twelve  thousand  were  present.  The  Executive  Committee 
expressed  grateful  appreciation  of  all  that  had  been  accom- 
plished. Dr.  W.  M.  Vines,  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee, 
in  a  heartfelt  farewell  address,  among  other  things  said: 

My  heart  is  too  full  for  utterance  and  I  am  unable  to  command 
language  to  convey  the  mingled  emotions  of  my  soul  on  this  sad  and 
yet  glorious  occasion.  The  vast  throngs  here  gathered  by  their 
presence  testify  to  the  popularity,  the  esteem,  confidence,  and  love 
of  the  thousands  of  Charlotte  people  for  Doctor  Chapman,  Mr. 
Alexander,  and  all  the  dear  friends  of  the  party.  It  was  my  privilege, 
seven  years  ago,  while  pastor  in  Norfolk,  Virginia,  in  urging  the 
ministers  and  the  churches  of  that  city  to  invite  Doctor  Chapman,  to 
declare  then  my  conviction  that  he  was  the  sanest,  safest,  and  soundest 
evangelist  with  whom  I  was  acquainted  in  all  the  world.  This  state- 
ment I  repeated  in  cooperating  with  my  brethren  in  extending  the 
invitation  for  Charlotte,  and  on  this  triumphant  day  I  am  prepared 
to  reaffirm  my  opinion  with  emphasis  that,  so  far  as  I  am  capable  of 
knowing.  Doctor  Chapman  is  the  greatest  evangelist  in  Christendom. 

On  May  seventh,  two  days  before  this  closing  service,  the 
Lusitania  was  torpedoed  off  the  southeast  coast  of  Ireland. 
Eleven  hundred  and  fifty  people,  among  them  more  than 
one  hundred  Americans,  were  drowned.  The  ruthless 
sinking  of  this  steamship  carried  to  the  ocean  depths  any 
lingering  sjmipathy  for  the  German  people. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Charlotte  meetings  Dr.  Chapman 
attended  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
U.  S.  in  session  at  Newport  News.  On  the  evening  of  the 
third  day  he  delivered  an  address  on — "A  New  Day  Ahead 


280     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

for  Evangelism."  The  following  morning  the  Assembly 
passed  a  resolution  of  appreciation  and  also  ordered  sent  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America  a  telegram  as  follows: 

Rev.  Willimi  H.  Roberts,  D.D. 

Presbyterian  General  Assembly, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.  wishes  to 
express  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.  A. 
its  sincere  appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  by  Rev.  J.  Wilbur 
Chapman,  D.D.  Four  services  were  held  under  the  direction  of 
Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander,  and  they  will  ever  be  memorable 
for  their  spiritual  power.  We  believe  that  the  Presbyterian  Church 
U.  S.  is  entering  upon  a  great  spiritual  revival.  The  services  of 
Doctor  Chapman  and  Mr.  Alexander  at  Atlanta,  Charlotte,  and  the 
General  Assembly  have  made  a  contribution  to  this  work  of  in- 
estimable value. 

W.  McF.  Alexander, 
Moderator. 


Dr.  Chapnian  deserved  the  confidence  thus  expressed  by 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  following  Sunday,  June  sixth,  he  preached  in  the 
Tremont  Temple  of  Boston  and  on  the  thirteenth  in  the 
Fourth  Church  of  New  York.  Dr.  Work,  the  pastor  of  the 
church,  at  this  service  baptised  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  III. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  June,  the  anniversary  of  Dr.  Chap- 
man's birth,  his  daughter  Agnes  was  married  to  Mr.  Fred 
E.  Linder  at  the  home  in  Jamaica. 

A  week,  from  July  twelfth  to  the  seventeenth,  was  given 
to  the  Summer  Assembly  in  Montreat,  North  Carolina. 
During  this  Conference  Mr.  Henry  Barraclough,  the  ac- 
complished associate  of  Mr.  Alexander,  composed  the  words 
and  music  of  the  hymn  known  as  "  Ivory  Palaces"  which  be- 


IN  PERILOUS  TIMES  281 

came  exceedingly  popular  and  still  remains  one  of  the  most 
effective  of  the  Alexander  collection. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1915  the  war  was 
waged  without  abatement.  Lord  Bryce  startled  the  world 
with  his  report  of  the  German  cruelties  in  Belgium.  The 
United  States  Government,  after  the  sinking  of  the  Lusi- 
tania,  hesitated,  but  delivered  to  Germany  a  protest  inti- 
mating that  neither  word  nor  act  necessary  to  maintain 
the  rights  of  its  citizens  on  the  seas  would  be  omitted.  Late 
in  May,  Italy,  under  conviction  that  her  political  ideals 
could  be  achieved  only  through  a  victory  by  the  Allies, 
entered  the  war  against  Austria.  By  the  middle  of  June 
the  British  Premier  announced  that  the  war  had  cost  Great 
Britain  four  billion  three  hundred  and  ten  million  dollars 
and  that  they  were  then  spending  thirteen  millions  a  day. 
At  the  end  of  July  the  United  States  notified  the  German 
Government  that  any  peril  to  neutral  passengers  on  mer- 
chant ships  would  be  regarded  as  "deliberately  unfriendly." 
The  Germans  replied  with  liquid  fire,  and  by  the  beginning 
of  August,  at  the  close  of  the  first  year  of  the  war,  Germany 
occupied  more  than  twenty  thousand  square  miles  of  con- 
quered territory  in  the  west  and  more  than  fifty  thousand 
square  miles  in  Russia. 

As  summer  wore  on  the  terrors  multiplied.  By  August 
twenty-fourth  there  were  said  to  be  three  million  two 
hmidred  thousand  German  soldiers  in  the  field  and  one 
million  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  Austrians.  Of 
these  three  hundred  thousand  had  been  killed,  five  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  were  missing,  and  some  eight  hundred 
and  ten  thousand  wounded.  On  September  fifteenth  the 
British  House  of  Commons  voted  a  new  war  credit  of  one 
billion  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  which  brought 


282     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

the  total  of  British  expenditures  to  six  billion  three  hundred 
and  ten  million  dollars.  Toward  the  close  of  September 
the  Greek  army  was  mobilized  to  meet  a  similar  mobiliza- 
tion of  the  Bulgarians.  October  third  an  American 
committee,  charged  with  investigation  of  Turkish 
atrocities,  reported  that  "crimes  now  being  perpetrated 
upon  the  Armenian  people  surpass  in  their  horror  or  cruelty 
anything  that  history  has  recorded  during  the  past  thou- 
sand years."  But  little  more  than  a  week  passed  before  the 
world  was  shocked  by  the  execution  at  Brussels  of  Miss 
Edith  Cavell.  At  the  end  of  November  four  hundred 
thousand  French  boys  of  the  1917  class  were  called  to  the 
colours;  the  life  blood  of  France  was  ebbing  away.  In 
blackness  and  blood  the  year  closed. 

During  all  these  ominous  days  Dr.  Chapman  without  rest 
continued  in  conference  and  in  evangelistic  work.  People 
were  responsive  to  the  message  he  delivered.  He  attended 
conferences  at  Lake  Junaluska,  Winona  Lake,  Stony 
Brook,  and  other  places  and  then  kept  an  engagement 
with  Davidson  College,  North  Carolina. 

Dr.  William  J.  Martin,  President  of  the  College,  wrote 
that,  of  the  eighteen  of  their  three  hundred  and  fifty-four 
students  not  members  of  the  church,  fifteen  had  given 
public  expression  of  a  determination  to  accept  Christ,  that 
nine  of  them  had  joined  the  church,  and  that  the  others 
expected  to  do  so  at  a  later  period. 

''No  less  universal" — so  he  wrote — "was  the  reconsecra- 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  students  who  were  church  members. 
Practically  the  entire  body  publicly  proclaimed  their  desire 
to  live  closer  to  the  Master  and  to  serve  Him  more  loyally." 

These  meetings  at  Davidson  College  were  followed  at 
Asheville,    North    Carolina,    by    an    intensive    mission 


IN  PERILOUS  TIMES  283 

beginning  on  October  seventeenth  and  extending  through 
November  twenty-first. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Asheviile  campaign  he  returned 
to  New  York  for  a  few  days'  rest  and,  on  November  twenty- 
eighth,  in  Brattleboro,  Vermont,  began  a  series  of  meetings 
that  were  continued  till  the  twenty-third  of  December. 
The  meetings,  both  in  Asheviile  and  in  Brattleboro,  were  in 
character  not  different  from  those  held  in  other  places,  and 
reports  stated  that  there  had  been  many  conversions  and 
that  church  members  had  entered  upon  a  life  of  deeper 
consecration. 

During  the  nine  months,  from  April  first  to  December 
thirty-first,  he  had  conducted  two  hundred  and  sixty-six 
services. 

Meanwhile,  from  all  sections  of  the  country,  the  invita- 
tions continued  to  come  in. 

At  the  close  of  the  Brattleboro  campaign  Dr.  Chapman 
returned  to  his  home  in  Jamaica  and  there  by  correspond- 
ence prepared  his  programme  for  the  ensuing  year. 

The  first  campaign  of  1916  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  opened 
on  January  ninth  and  continued  through  February  thir- 
teenth. Following  this  he  rested  for  a  few  days  at  Warsaw 
and  then,  in  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  conducted  a 
mission  from  the  twentieth  of  February  to  the  twenty- 
sixth  of  March.  This  was  followed  by  a  brief  rest  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  and  in  Culpeper,  after  which  at  Wil- 
mington, North  Carolina,  he  began  a  series  of  meetings  that 
opened  on  April  ninth  and  ended  May  fourteenth.  Leaving 
for  his  home  in  Jamaica  he  preached  in  the  local  church  on 
May  seventeenth  and,  on  the  twenty-first,  opened  a 
campaign  in  Keene,  New  Hampshire,  where  he  remained 
imtil  June  seventeenth. 


284     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Ten  days  after  the  close  of  the  Springfield  meetings  Dr. 
Preston  Wood,  Superintendent  of  the  M.  E.  Illinois  Con- 
ference, wrote: 

The  fragrant  incense  of  the  meetings  still  lingers  and  the  blessed 
influence  is  still  felt.  Many  of  the  pastors  in  the  neighbouring  towns 
are  beginning  meetings  and  are  expecting  to  push  the  campaign  till 
Easter. 

On  May  second  Dr.  Donald  C.  Macleod,  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  stated: 

You  will  be  interested  to  know  the  results  of  your  evangelistic 
campaign  in  Springfield  leading  up  to  Easter  Sunday.  Our  churches 
had  set  before  them  an  objective  of  eleven  hundred  new  members. 
We  went  beyond  this  and  made  a  splendid  record  of  thirteen  hundred 
and  tv/enty-five. 

The  meetings  in  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  were  of  sustained  interest  and  power. 

On  the  evening  of  March  thirteenth,  at  the  close  of  a 
special  sermon,  sixty-one  young  men  came  forward  for  the 
ministry,  the  majority  of  them  being  college  students. 
One  hundred  and  seventeen  young  women  proffered  them- 
selves for  mission  work  at  home  and  abroad,  and  of  them  not 
less  than  seventy-five  expressed  a  willingness  to  go  to  the 
foreign  field. 

Dr.  W.  E.  Slemmons,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  a  final  report,  said: 

Not  for  many  years  has  the  city  of  Washington,  Pa.,  been  so  stirred 
as  it  is  to-day. 

The  meetings  have  now  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  week  been  con- 
cluded and  the  converts  are  still  being  gathered  in.  These  results  have 
been  brought  to  pass  by  a  kind  of  evangelism  which  especially  merits 
the  attention  of  the  Church  at  this  time. 


IN  PERILOUS  TIMES  285 

Not  one  word  of  slang  has  escaped  the  preacher  of  righteousness. 
There  has  been  no  brow-beating  of  the  minister.  There  have  been  no 
rhetorical  exercises  in  vituperation.  The  spirit-guided  proclamation 
of  the  truth  of  God's  Word  has  been  the  sword  that  has  cut  into  the 
conscience  of  sinners,  and  has  been  the  bread  of  Heaven  that  has  fed 
the  souls  of  saints. 

This  is  the  evangelism  which  we  believe  the  Church  needs;  the 
evangelism  which  is  to  conserve  the  high  ideals  of  that  religion,  blood 
bought  by  our  Redeemer,  which  issues  in  the  love  of  an  observance  of 
the  things  which  are  pure  and  honest,  just  and  lovely,  and  of  good 
report;  the  things  that  are  indeed  virtuous  and  praiseworthy,  and 
which  the  apostle  bids  us  to  think  upon  and  take  to  heart. 

To  have  the  gospel  given  with  the  authority  of  a  scholar,  deeply 
versed  in  the  truths  of  the  Word  of  God,  with  the  grace,  courtesy,  and 
good  temper  of  a  Christian  gentleman;  with  a  force  and  directness  of  a 
prophet,  with  consummate  and  yet  unstudied  art  in  the  use  of  means 
for  inducing  men  to  confess  the  Lord  Jesus:  this  is  something  to  be 
devoutly  grateful  for  and  this  is  what  we  have  had.  Christian  life 
built  upon  the  Word  of  God  has  been  the  aim,  and  this  we  believe  will 
be  the  result  achieved.  This,  we  say  again,  is  the  evangelism  the 
Church  needs.  This  is  the  evangelism  which  has  gone  around  the 
world,  and  has  been  blessed  in  every  continent  of  the  earth,  and  has 
literally  proved  itself  to  be  in  God's  hand  the  power  of  God  unto  sal- 
vation to  countless  souls,  and  is  the  Church's  hope  to  preserve  her 
purity  of  doctrine  and  of  life. 

Cheering  statements  of  similar  character  were  given 
concerning  the  meetings  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina, 
and  in  Keene,  New  Hampshire. 

A  detailed  account  of  these  four  campaigns  would  be 
but  a  repetition  of  what  has  been  said  of  others. 

At  the  close  of  the  meetings  in  Keene  Dr.  Chapman  was 
approaching  the  limit  of  his  endurance.  On  Friday,  June 
sixteenth,  he  wrote  to  Dr.  J.  M.  Wells,  who  had  so  con- 
stantly supported  him  in  Wilmington: 

My  dear  Doctor  Wells: 

I  am  just  closing  the  year's  campaign.  Sunday  night  will  be  our 
last  service.    Since  the  first  of  October  we  have  been  toiling,  and  I  am 


286     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

tired  out,  more  so,  I  think,  than  ever  before,  but  I  am  writing  to  the 
various  chairmen  in  the  different  cities,  and  my  heart  impels  me  to 
write  to  you,  for  Wilmington  has  a  great  place  in  my  affections,  and 
you  helped  to  make  our  stay  in  your  city  a  never-to-be-forgotten 
experience. 

With  sincere  regards,  I  am, 

Ever  faithfully  yours. 

Tired  out!  But  writing  to  the  various  chairmen  in  the 
different  cities! 

How  that  testifies  to  the  longing  that  his  work  should  be 
intransient  and  true! 

During  the  six  months  he  had  preached  three  hundred  and 
sixteen  times.  But  to  his  nature  rest  was  foreign,  and  on 
June  twenty-fifth  he  preached  the  opening  sermon  in  the 
Tent  Evangel,  New  York. 

The  summer  was  devoted  to  the  usual  conferences  and  in 
September  he  conducted  a  retreat  for  New  Hampshire 
ministers  at  The  Weirs  on  Lake  Winnipesaukee. 

His  first  fall  campaign  was  arranged  for  Galesburg,  Illinois, 
to  continue  during  October.  While  preparing  for  this 
there  came  repeated  appeals  for  him  to  return  to  London. 

The  war,  relentless  and  cruel,  had  increased  in  violence, 
rolling  over  the  battlefields  waves  of  blood,  and  civilization, 
on  a  red  ocean,  became  a  helpless  and  tossing  derelict. 

By  massacre  and  murder;  by  infanticide  and  suicide;  by 
holocaust  and  hanging;  by  depth  bomb  and  gas;  by 
butchery,  by  burning,  by  torture,  by  strangling,  by  cruci- 
fixion, by  drowning,  by  every  infernal  method  the  in- 
genuity of  the  devil  could  devise,  souls  were  launched  into 
eternity  until  the  bill  of  mortality  appalled  the  world. 

Tragedy  followed  tragedy  till  all  bells  were  tolling  and 
from  the  stricken  heart  a  wail  of  anguish  was  ascending  to 
the  throne  of  God. 


IN  PERILOUS  TIMES  287 

The  year  had  opened  with  the  bombardment  of  the 
Turkish  forts  by  the  alUed  warships  endeavouring  to  force 
their  way  through  the  Dardanelles.  The  hopeless  attempt, 
with  only  one  casualty,  was  abandoned  in  the  spectacular 
evacuation  of  the  Gallipoli  Peninsula. 

On  January  fifteenth  the  ''peace  pilgrims"  under  the 
management  of  Henry  Ford  started  for  Rotterdam  to 
terminate  hostilities  and  establish  the  peace  of  the  world. 
No  dove  with  an  olive  branch  returned  to  the  ark  bearing 
these  flowerets  of  wisdom. 

By  the  middle  of  April  the  State  Department  at  Washing- 
ton had  notified  the  German  Government  that  submarine 
warfare  must  be  abandoned  or  diplomatic  relations  with 
Germany  would  be  severed. 

On  the  last  day  of  May  the  greatest  sea  fight  in  the 
history  of  the  world  occurred  between  the  British  and 
German  fleets  off  the  coast  of  Jutland. 

On  June  fifth  the  British  cruiser  Hampshire  was  sunk  by 
a  mine  near  the  Orkney  Islands  and  Lord  Kitchener  was 
numbered  among  the  missing.  On  that  same  day  the 
German  Chancellor  declared  that  any  suggestion  of  peace 
by  Germany  **  would  be  futile  and  evil." 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  June  Sir  Roger  Casement  was 
tried  for  high  treason,  found  guilty  on  the  twenty-ninth, 
sentenced  by  Lord  Reading,  Chief  Justice  of  England,  and 
executed  in  Pentonville  prison  on  August  third. 

On  July  fourth  the  French  and  the  English  forces,  with 
a  terrific  bombardment  that  extended  for  more  than 
twenty-five  miles,  began  the  great  offensive  on  the  Somme. 
About  that  time  David  Lloyd  George  became  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  succeed  Lord  Kitchener. 

On  August  twenty-seventh  Italy  declared  war  on  Ger- 


288     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

many  and  the  following  day  Germany  declared  war  on 
Roumania. 

By  the  middle  of  September  the  British  were  crossing  the 
trenches  and  shell-holes  in  armoured  motor  trucks  com- 
monly known  as  "tanks." 

Toward  the  end  of  the  month  the  German  Chancellor 
declared  in  the  Reichstag  that  Germany  would  continue  in 
the  war  until  victorious. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  week  in  November  Cardinal 
Mercier,  the  Primate  of  Belgium,  issued  to  the  world 
his  famous  protest  against  the  deportation  of  Belgian 
citizens. 

On  November  twenty-first  the  Austrian  emperor,  Francis 
Joseph,  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Charles  Francis,  a 
brother  of  the  Prince  whose  assassination  had  been  the 
pretext  for  the  war. 

At  the  end  of  November,  in  response  to  the  rogation  of 
Cardinal  Mercier,  the  United  States  presented  to  the 
German  Government  a  note  reprehending  the  deportation. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  week  in  December  Lloyd  George 
became  Premier.  Two  weeks  later,  in  reply  to  a  German 
peace  offer,  he  declared  that  there  must  be  "full  reparation, 
complete  restitution,  and  effectual  guarantees  against 
aggression  in  the  future." 

On  December  twenty-first  Mr.  Lansing,  Secretary  of 
State,  announced  that  the  United  States  was  "drawing 
nearer  to  the  verge  of  war"  and  was  therefore  entitled  to 
know  what  each  belligerent  sought,  in  order  that  the 
United  States  Government  might  regulate  its  conduct  in  the 
future. 

The  year  closed  with  the  repudiation  of  the  German  peace 
offer  as  "empty  and  insincere."    Spain  sent  to  the  United 


IN  PERILOUS  TIMES  289 

States  a  note  declaring  that  any  attempt  to  secure  a  general 
peace  would  be  both  useless  and  ineffectual. 

Such  were  some  of  the  tragic  outstanding  events  that 
furnished  **the  tremendous  and  exceptional  opportunities" 
open  to  Dr.  Chapman  if  he  would  return  to  London. 

The  National  Council  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations  of  Great  Britain  had  planned  **an  extensive 
series  of  evangelistic  campaigns  for  Great  Britain  and 
France";  and  Mr.  W.  Gordon  Sprigg,  representing  Mr. 
Arthur  K.  Yapp,  the  National  Secretary,  had  sent  an  urgent 
appeal  to  Dr.  Chapman  to  return  with  Mr.  Alexander  to 
England  and  cooperate  in  the  proposed  campaign. 

The  invitation  was  endorsed  by  Dr.  A.  C.  Dixon,  pastor  of 
the  Metropolitan  Tabernacle,  who  wrote: 

I  most  earnestly  hope  that  you  and  Alexander  will  accept  the 
invitation  to  come  over  for  a  campaign  among  the  soldiers.  It  is  such 
an  opportunity  to  save  men  as  may  never  occur  again.  The  churches 
in  America  ought  to  release  you  for  this. 

Dr.  Chapman  replied: 

I  do  sincerely  wish  that  we  could  come  to  you  for  this  work  in 
England.  I  am  sure  that  it  is  a  very  great  and  wonderful  opportunity, 
but  our  engagements  are  all  made  here  for  the  season,  and  in  some  of 
the  cities  buildings  are  already  being  constructed. 

I  have  written  Mr.  Sprigg  that  if  the  war  continues  we  might  be 
able  to  come  later. 

The  campaign  in  Galesburg,  Illinois,  opened  on  October 
first.  At  its  close  the  Executive  Committee  issued  a 
statement  from  which  are  taken  these  few  sentences: 

We  cannot  permit  the  Chapman-Alexander  party  to  close  their 
work  in  Galesburg  without  a  formal  expression  of  our  love  for  them, 
our  great  joy  in  their  splendid  ministry  and  our  appreciation  of  their 
unsparing  devotion  while  among  us. 


290     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

We  declare  our  sincere  approval  of  the  earnest  and  faithful  preach- 
ing of  our  honoured  evangelist.  We  hold  Doctor  Chapman  to  be  a 
true  man  of  God,  and  express  our  admiration  for  his  unfailing  kindness 
and  his  generous  self-devotion.  We  thank  God  for  the  true  and 
tender  way  in  which  he  has  warned  men  of  danger  and  shepherded  our 
souls.  We  bear  witness  that  in  the  effort  to  bring  us  and  our  city  to 
God  he  has  not  spared  himself  at  all  but  has  spent  himself  freely  that 
we  might  be  bettered,  our  churches  enriched,  and  our  city  prospered. 


Truly  he  had  not  "spared  himself."  None  but  he  was 
aware  of  the  sharp  pain  that  warned  him  of  the  physical 
collapse  impending. 

On  his  arrival  in  New  York  his  physician  declared  that 
an  immediate  operation  was  necessary.  Dr.  Chapman 
wanted  it  deferred  until  after  a  campaign  that  had  been 
projected  for  Charleston,  West  Virginia,  but  danger  in 
further  delay  was  too  great.  Finding,  to  his  great  re- 
lief, that  future  dates  could  be  satisfactorily  adjusted, 
he  went  to  the  hospital  on  November  ninth,  and  on  the 
following  day  the  operation  was  performed.  Although 
difficult  and  critical,  it  was  pronounced  successful,  and  the 
surgeons  wondered  how  one  in  so  serious  a  condition  had 
been  able  to  continue  his  work  so  long. 

He  remained  in  the  hospital  for  seven  weeks.  On  the 
fifteenth  of  December  he  was  told  by  his  physician  that  it 
would  be  "  humanly  impossible  "  to  prosecute  his  programme. 
The  disappointment  was  most  bitter.  On  that  same  day 
he  dictated  a  letter  to  Dr.  Roberts: 


I  cannot  tell  you  how  sorry  I  am  to  disarrange  the  plans  made.  In 
fourteen  years  I  have  had  thirteen  serious  breakdowns,  and  in  almost 
every  case  when  the  local  doctors  treated  me,  they  feared  that  the  case 
was  fatal,  but  insofar  as  I  can  remember,  in  no  city  did  I  stay  away 
from  my  work  more  than  five  days,  and  this  was  when  I  was  in  Edin- 
burgh and  under  the  professional  care  of  Sir  James  Affleck.    This, 


IN  PERILOUS  TIMES  291 

therefore,  is  the  first  time  that  I  have  been  compelled  to  ask  to  be  re- 
leased from  an  engagement. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  he  had  sufficiently  recovered  to  go 
to  Atlantic  City. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  January  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Earnest 
Thompson  of  Charleston,  West  Virginia.: 

I  am  leaving  to-morrow  morning  for  New  York  to  consult  with  my 
doctor.  I  have  been  in  Atlantic  City  almost  three  weeks,  and  I  have 
done  the  very  best  I  could  to  make  a  good  recovery  so  as  to  be  in  shape 
for  the  campaign  in  Charleston,  February  eighteenth. 

Conditions  with  me  have  not  been  quite  so  favourable  as  they  were 
a  week  ago.  At  that  time  Doctor  Bainbridge  was  here  and  felt  that 
there  was  every  reason  to  believe  that  I  would  be  in  condition  by 
February  eighteenth.  What  he  will  say  when  I  see  him  to-morrow  I 
cannot  tell,  but  I  will  send  you  word  at  once  by  wire. 

If  the  door  should  be  closed,  and  he  tells  me  that  it  will  be  unwise  for 
me  to  come  to  you,  then  I  am  sure  you  will  appreciate  what  this  has  all 
cost  me  in  the  way  of  personal  suffering  and  disappointment. 

These  days  of  convalescence  were  tedious  and  trying  to  a 
nature  more  attuned  to  the  clarion  than  to  the  lullaby. 

But  seventeen  weeks  elapsed  before  he  was  permitted  to 
take  up  the  work  he  had  so  reluctantly  laid  down. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE 

Atlantic  City,  perched  on  the  rim  of  the  ocean,  re- 
flects in  her  features  the  face  of  the  waters  that  roll  in  at 
her  feet.  There  is  a  curious  blending  of  motion  and  rest,  of 
sunshine  and  shadow,  of  pleasure  and  pain. 

The  siren  song  of  her  climate,  salubrious  and  restorative, 
lures  to  her  beneficence  the  Joseph-coated  cosmopolitanism 
that  flows  a  human  stream  in  eddying  currents  along  the 
boardwalk. 

Such  kaleidoscopic  movement  of  an  ever-fluctuating 
populace  is  a  never-ending  stimulant  to  mental  inertia. 

Some  are  there  for  council  or  convention,  intent  upon  the 
serious  things  of  life;  some,  with  no  motive  other  than  to  eat 
the  bread  of  indolence;  some,  because  they  are  birds  of 
restless  wing;  some,  to  regain  health  sacrificed  in  service. 

Here  Dr.  Chapman  spent  the  first  weeks  of  his 
convalescence.  On  January  twenty-fourth,  1917,  he  wrote 
to  Dr.  Roberts: 

While  it  may  not  be  possible  for  me  to  take  great  evangelistic 
campaigns  for  a  little  while,  I  am  expecting,  just  as  soon  as  I  regain  my 
strength,  to  begin  holding  evangelistic  conferences  with  ministers,  for 
which  I  have  many  invitations,  and  also  to  visit  some  of  the  educa- 
tional institutions  where  I  have  invitations  to  work  with  the  students. 

Just  one  month  later,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  February, 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Jamaica,  New  York,  he 
preached  for  the  first  time  in  seventeen  weeks. 

292 


CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE  293 

Early  in  the  month  diplomatic  relations  with  Germany 
had  been  broken  and  on  the  twenty-eighth  came  the  de- 
fiant announcement  that  no  restrictions  would  be  placed  on 
submarine  warfare. 

In  March  China  severed  diplomatic  relations  with 
Germany;  and  the  Czar  of  Russia,  abdicating,  left  his  throne 
tottering  to  its  fall. 

During  this  month  Dr.  Chapman  preached  every  Sunday, 
conducted  the  Friday  night  services  in  the  Central  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Brooklyn,  and  gave  as  much  time  as  his 
strength  would  permit  to  the  composition  of  his  book — 
''When  Home  Is  Heaven." 

On  the  eleventh  of  April  he  received  notice  that  the 
Presbj^ery  of  New  York  had  elected  him  a  Commissioner  to 
the  General  Assembly  that  was  to  convene  in  Dallas,  Texas, 
on  the  third  Thursday  of  May.  He  arrived  in  Dallas  on 
May  sixteenth  in  time  to  attend  a  Pre-Assembly  Conference. 

The  scorpion  that  was  scourging  civilization  absorbed  all 
thought.  Intervention  by  the  United  States  had  been 
long  impending  and  on  the  second  of  April  the  President 
addressed  Congress.  The  declaration  of  war  on  Germany 
was  made  on  April  the  fourth  by  the  Senate  and  on  April  the 
sixth  by  the  House  of  Representatives.  A  bond  issue  of 
seven  billions  was  authorized  and  a  conscription  bill  calling 
for  five  hundred  thousand  men  was  passed. 

The  Presbyterian  Assembly  was  the  first  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical bodies  in  convention  following  the  declaration  of  war. 
A  proud  and  self-confident  autocracy  had  spumed  the 
righteousness  that  exalteth  a  nation  and  had  brought  upon 
itself  all  the  righteous  blood  shed  upon  the  earth,  from  the 
blood  of  Barachias,  slain  between  the  temple  and  the  altar, 
to  the  last  drop  drained  from  the  veins  of  the  Armenians. 


294     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Christian  people  doubtful  of  the  imprecatory  psalms  now 
found  in  them  the  terms  in  which  they  could  best  express 
their  inextinguishable  indignation. 

The  Assembly  held  its  sessions  in  the  City  Temple  of 
Dallas  and  on  May  seventeenth  elected  its  Moderator. 
No  commissioner  had  a  personal  following  comparable  to 
that  of  Dr.  Chapman.  His  concentration  upon  evangelism 
had  refined  his  reputation  and  given  definiteness  to  his  fame. 

By  his  distinguished  service  at  home  and  abroad,  by  the 
grace  and  charm  of  his  personality,  by  his  lofty  conception 
of  his  calling,  by  the  strength  and  dignity  of  his  method,  by 
his  imfaltering  loyalty  to  Holy  Scripture,  he  had  won  the 
confidence  of  the  Church  and  was  worthy  of  her  preferment. 

In  presenting  his  name  to  the  General  Assembly  Dr. 
John  F.  Carson  touched  the  patriotic  and  devotional  chords 
to  which  the  spirit  of  the  commissioners  was  concentual. 

The  first  ballot  was  decisive.  Four  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  votes  were  necessary  to  determine  an  election.  Dr. 
Chapman  received  five  hundred  and  ninety  of  the  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  cast.  By  vote  the  election  was  made 
unanimous. 

"This  is  the  man" — so  stated  Dr.  D.  S.  Kennedy  of 
the  Presbyterian — ''brought  up  through  courses  of  sorrow, 
pain,  care,  labour,  training,  scholarship,  faith,  struggle,  and 
victory,  to  lead  the  great  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  U.  S.  A. 
in  this  teeming  year  of  the  nation's  and  the  world's  crisis. 
God  sought  not  a  man  of  boasted  statesmanship,  nor  one 
famed  for  critical  scholarship,  nor  a  great  administrator. 
He  called  forth  from  his  humble  Indiana  home,  and  trained 
and  anointed  a  man,  baptized  with  a  mother's  prayer  and  a 
father's  instruction,  who  glories  not  save  in  the  cross  of 
Christ." 


CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE  295 

Patriotism  without  restraint  was  the  prevailing  sentiment 
of  the  Assembly,  The  Presbyterian  Church,  in  her 
splendid  history,  had  never  failed  to  cherish  and  to  cham- 
pion human  freedom.  Personal  and  political  liberty,  a 
dearly  bought  and  priceless  heritage,  menaced  by  intoler- 
ance and  brutality,  was  in  danger  of  extinction.  Of  this 
there  must  be  no  uncertain  improbation. 

To  a  Special  Committee  were  referred  various  resolutions 
bearing  upon  the  national  crisis.  The  Committee  prepared 
and  presented  to  the  Assembly  a  statement  recommending 
the  appointment  of  a  National  Service  Commission  charged 
by  the  Assembly  to  offer  every  resource  of  the  Church  to  the 
Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 

A  telegram  to  the  President  was  forwarded: 

We  pledge  you  our  support  in  holding  the  American  people  to  the 
high  idealism  with  which  we  entered  this  war,  and  to  the  keeping  of  our 
hearts  from  hate  and  the  spirit  of  revenge. 

We  are  heartily  grateful  for  the  action  already  taken  by  the  Na- 
tional Government  in  creating  a  zone  around  the  training  camps  from 
which  the  saloon  and  other  incentives  to  immorality  are  excluded. 

Convinced  that  war,  in  itself,  as  a  method  of  settling  international 
disputes  is  irrational,  inhuman,  and  un-Christian,  and  that  it  can  only 
be  abolished  by  the  spiritual  force  of  international  good-will,  we  appeal 
to  you  that  you  use  your  great  office  to  secure  an  early  peace  and  that 
when  the  time  comes  to  end  the  war,  in  harmony  with  the  principles 
you  have  already  laid  down,  that  you  help  to  secure  such  terms  of 
peace  as  shall  prepare  the  way  for  an  organization  of  the  world  that 
will  make  war  impossible  forever. 

The  President  responded: 

THE  WHITE  HOUSE 
WASHINGTON 

May  22,  1917. 
My  dear  Doctor  Chapman: 

That  is  a  most  heartening  message  which  you  and  Doctor  Roberts 
addressed  to  me  in  the  name  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 


296     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

terian  Church,  and  I  beg  you  to  believe  that  I  am  most  appreciative  and 
grateful.    With  warmest  thanks  to  you  and  to  everyone  concerned. 

Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 
(signed)   WooDROW  Wilson. 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman, 
Moderator,  129th  General  Assembly, 
Presbyterian  Church, 
Jamaica,  New  York. 

The  National  Service  Commission,  constituted  by  a 
representative  body  of  clergymen  and  laymen  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  States,  was  convened  for  organization 
and  adjourned  to  meet  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

On  May  twenty-sixth  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  left  Dallas. 
On  the  twenty-seventh  in  St.  Louis  he  preached  in  the  West 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  morning  and  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  at  night. 

Following  this  they  went  to  Washington,  Pennsylvania, 
the  scene  of  a  former  evangelistic  campaign,  where  they 
were  the  guests  of  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  C.  L.  McKee,  whose 
home  they  had  occupied  during  the  time  of  those  meetings. 
On  Wednesday,  the  thirtieth,  at  a  service  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  Dr.  Chapman  was  given  a  cordial 
"welcome  back,"  and  the  ministers  reported  on  the  per- 
manency of  his  work  in  their  city. 

During  the  early  part  of  June,  in  different  cities,  he 
addressed  Presbyterian  Social  Unions.  He  then  went  to 
Washington,  D.  C,  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  National 
Service  Commission  called  "in  fulfillment  of  the  instruction 
of  the  General  Assembly  to  assure  the  President  of  the 
loyalty  and  cooperation  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

The  Commission  waited  upon  the  President  who  was 
most  cordial  in  his  appreciation  of  the  action  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  frank  in  his  suggestions. 


CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE  297 

After  the  members  of  the  Commission  had  been  presented 
personally,  the  Moderator  and  the  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mission addressed  him,  assuring  him  of  the  loyal  support  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  of  sympathy  with  him  in  his 
great  task,  and  of  the  readiness  of  the  Church  to  do  all  in  its 
power  to  assist  the  Government  in  prosecuting  the  war  to 
a  successful  conclusion. 

The  response  was  gracious  and  inspiring. 

For  a  month  following  the  Washington  conference  Dr. 
Chapman  preached  every  Sunday  in  the  Broadway  Taber- 
nacle of  New  York  City. 

The  summer  months  were  given  to  conference  work  at 
Montreat,  Lake  Junaluska,  Winona,  and  Stony  Brook, 
where  he  took  part  in  the  dedication  of  the  hall  given  to  the 
Stony  Brook  Assembly  by  the  generous  and  distinguished 
layman  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Mr.  Robert  Johnston 
of  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

The  only  days  of  rest  were  those  from  August  twenty- 
seventh  to  September  fourth,  when,  with  Mrs.  Chapman, 
he  motored  through  New  Hampshire  to  Center  Lovel, 
Maine,  to  be  the  guests  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Marcus  A.  Brown- 
son. 

In  accepting  the  high  honour  conferred  upon  him  by  the 
Church  Dr.  Chapman  had  incurred  the  obligations  attached 
to  that  distinguished  office. 

The  Moderator  belongs  to  the  Church  at  large  and  is 
expected  to  devote  himself  almost  exclusively  to  general 
service.  With  whirlwind  force  he  must  traverse  all  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  and  bear  a  burden  that  no  man  apart 
from  the  experience  can  appreciate. 

Under  ordinary  conditions  the  itinerary  of  the  Moderator 
is  exacting  and  exhausting;  but  during  Dr.  Chapman's 


298     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

term  of  office  the  Church  was  facing  a  crisis  of  unpre- 
cedented opportunity.  Her  spiritual  assets  had  been 
dehvered  by  the  Government  into  the  hands  of  subordinate 
agencies  that,  through  the  capitahzation  of  Christian 
charity,  had  exposed  their  utter  inefficiency  and  worse. 

No  doubt  good  was  done,  but  evangeHsm  was  com- 
promised, and  Christianity,  arrayed  in  the  inexpressibles 
of  the  vaudeville,  had  no  message  of  salvation  for  the  boys 
facing  eternity.  Against  such  perversion  Dr.  Chapman 
was  outspoken  in  protest. 

His  itinerary,  covering  the  whole  country,  was  arranged 
by  Dr.  William  L.  McEwan  of  the  Executive  Commission 
and  Dr.  William  H.  Foulkes,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Church  Activities  of  the  National  Service  Commission. 

The  last  week  in  September  Dr.  Chapman  was  at  Atlantic 
City  and  at  important  committee  meetings  in  Philadelphia. 
On  the  thirtieth  he  began  the  first  half  of  the  itinerary  that 
was  to  occupy  his  time  till  Christmas. 

We  may  perhaps  obtain  some  measurable  appreciation  of 
this  by  a  brief  summary  that  will  take  a  less  number  of 
minutes  to  read  than  of  months  required  by  him  to  cover. 
We  should  remember,  too,  that  the  wound  of  his  operation 
had  never  closed.  That  oppressive  burden  he  bore  with  no 
word  of  complaint. 

On  September  thirtieth  he  preached  the  dedicatory 
sermon  of  the  new  West  Presbyterian  Church  of  St.  Louis. 
On  the  morning  of  the  following  day  he  addressed  the 
ministers  of  St.  Louis. 

On  October  second  at  Tulsa,  Oklahoma,  he  spoke  four 
times;  on  the  fifth,  at  Great  Falls,  he  attended  the  Synod 
of  Montana,  and  held  three  services;  on  Sunday  the  seventh, 
at  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  he  preached  three  times;  on 


CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE  299 

October  ninth,  at  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  he  spoke  twice;  on  the 
tenth,  at  the  Synod  of  Michigan,  three  times;  on  the 
eleventh,  at  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin,  three  times;  on  the 
fourteenth,  at  Des  Moines,  he  conducted  five  services;  on 
the  sixteenth,  at  Ames,  he  made  five  addresses;  on  the 
seventeenth,  at  Chicago,  he  addressed  the  students  of  the 
McCormick  Theological  Seminary;  on  the  eighteenth,  at 
the  Synod  of  Illinois,  he  spoke  three  times;  on  Sunday  the 
twenty-first,  in  New  York,  he  preached  in  the  Madison 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church;  on  the  twenty-second,  at 
Elizabeth,  he  attended  a  committee  meeting  and  preached 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church;  on  the  twenty-third,  at 
Philadelphia,  he  met  committees;  on  the  twenty-fourth,  at 
Johnstown,  he  attended  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania;  on  the 
twenty-fifth  at  Detroit,  he  conducted  three  meetings;  on  the 
thirtieth,  at  Pittsburgh,  he  spoke  once  at  the  University  and 
conducted  three  other  services;  on  the  thirty-first,  at 
Cleveland,  he  held  three  services. 

November  first  he  was  at  the  Great  Lakes  Naval  Training 
Station  and  conducted  two  services;  on  the  second,  at 
Chicago,  he  held  three  services;  on  the  fourth,  at  Battle 
Creek,  he  kept  six  appointments;  on  the  seventh,  at  Buffalo, 
he  held  three  meetings;  on  the  eighth,  at  Rochester,  he 
addressed  the  ministers  in  the  afternoon.  Here  his 
strength  failed  and  he  was  forced  to  rest.  He  remained 
inactive  until  the  evening  of  the  thirteenth  when  he  left  for 
his  home  in  Jamaica.  By  the  nineteenth  he  had  recovered 
and,  at  Cincinnati,  spoke  three  times;  on  the  twentieth,  at  St. 
Louis,  he  held  two  meetings;  on  the  twenty-first,  at  Kansas 
City,  three  meetings;  on  the  twenty-second,  at  Omaha,  four 
meetings;  on  the  twenty-third,  at  Topeka,  three  meetings; 
on  the  twenty-seventh,  at  Toledo,  three  meetings. 


300     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

En  route  to  New  York  he  was  again  taken  ill  and  com- 
pelled to  return  to  the  hospital.  There  he  spent  his 
Thanksgiving  Day.  On  December  second  he  left  the 
hospital  but  was  very  ill  again  on  the  eighth  and  ninth. 
On  the  tenth  he  left  his  home  for  Springfield,  Ohio.  A 
storm  delayed  the  train  so  that  he  did  not  arrive  until  nine 
thirty  P.  M.,  but  he  addressed  a  meeting,  and  then  left  two 
hours  after  midnight  for  Erie,  where  on  the  twelfth  he 
conducted  two  services;  on  the  thirteenth,  at  Syracuse,  he 
preached  three  times;  on  the  fourteenth,  at  Auburn,  he  held 
three  meetings;  on  the  fifteenth  his  strength  again  failed  and 
for  two  days  he  rested  in  New  York.  On  the  eighteenth,  at 
Richmond,  he  attended  a  Committee  on  the  Union  of  the 
U.  S.  A.  and  U.  S.  Presbyterian  churches.  On  the 
twentieth  he  left  on  the  night  train  for  New  York  arriving 
the  following  day.  The  twenty-fifth,  with  his  family  about 
him,  he  spent  his  last  Christmas  upon  earth.  On  Sunday  the 
thirtieth  he  preached  in  Jamaica  at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  taking  for  his  theme — "The  Church  and  theWar." 

As  the  war  proceeded  during  this  year,  1917,  he  became 
more  apprehensive  and  concerned.  The  United  States  had 
massed  its  strength,  and  by  June  first  ten  million  men  were 
subject  to  draft. 

On  the  twenty-sixth,  the  first  American  contingent,  forty 
thousand  strong,  to  the  consternation  of  Germany,  veering 
away  from  the  infected  roadstead  of  Brest,  disembarked  at 
St.  Nazaire. 

On  the  twenty-seventh  of  July  the  second  expedition 
landed  in  France.  Meanwhile,  Constantine  had  abdicated, 
Greece  had  severed  diplomatic  relations  with  the  Central 
Powers,  and  Siam  had  declared  war  on  Germany. 

This  was  followed,  early  in  August,  by  a  declaration  of 


CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE  301 

war  by  Liberia  and,  a  week  later,  by  a  similar  declaration 
on  the  part  of  China.  The  Czar  of  Russia  was  dethroned 
and  exiled  to  Siberia. 

At  the  close  of  October  the  British  Premier  announced 
that  there  would  be  no  peace  in  the  world  until  the  shrine  of 
the  war  spirit  in  Potsdam  was  shattered  and  its  priesthood 
dispersed  and  discredited  forever. 

On  November  fourth  the  first  resolution  for  the  formation 
of  a  League  of  Nations  was  adopted  in  Paris.  Two  days 
later  the  King  and  Queen  of  Greece  were  discovered  to 
have  been  in  secret  alliance  with  Germany.  Meanwhile, 
General  Allenby  had  pushed  his  way  up  through  the  Holy 
Land,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  month  Jaffa,  the  seaport  of 
Jerusalem,  had  been  cut  off  and  the  English  forces  were 
surrounding  the  sacred  city.  On  the  sixteenth  of  November 
the  President  of  the  United  States  sent  to  the  King  of 
Belgium  a  cablegram,  stating  that  "the  people  of  the 
United  States  were  never  more  in  earnest  than  in  their 
determination  to  prosecute  to  a  successful  conclusion  this 
war  against  that  power  to  secure  for  the  future  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  nations  and  respect  for  the  rights  of  humanity." 

On  November  twenty-ninth  the  Inter-Allied  Council 
held  its  first  meeting  in  Paris.  The  session  closed  on 
December  third.  Congress  received  from  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  a  Budget  of  thirteen  billion  five  hundred 
million  dollars,  which  was  the  largest  ever  proposed  in  the 
history  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  eighth  of  December  General  Allenby  in  tri- 
umph entered  the  Holy  City.  On  the  seventeenth  the 
armistice  between  Russia  and  the  Central  Powers  became 
effective  and  all  firing  on  the  eastern  front  came  to  an  end. 
The  Soviet  Government  issued  a  decree  confiscating  the 


302     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

property  of  the  Church  and  ending  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
priesthood  over  Russian  schools.  On  the  twenty-seventh 
of  December  the  Turkish  army,  in  an  attempt  to  recapture 
Jerusalem,  was  overwhelmingly  defeated.  Again  the  year 
closed  in  blackness  and  in  blood. 

At  the  beginning  of  January  Dr.  Chapman,  in  Canada, 
conducted  meetings  in  Montreal  and  Toronto. 

On  the  sixth  he  opened  the  long-deferred  evangelistic 
campaign  in  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey^  where  he  remained 
until  February  third.  During  this  month  he  conducted 
fifty-eight  services  and  brought  to  a  close  his  renowned  and 
conspicuous  career  as  an  evangelist. 

Following  the  meetings  in  Elizabeth  he  began  the  long 
tour,  arranged  by  the  National  Service  Commission,  that 
was  to  occupy  every  moment  of  his  time  until  the  third 
week  of  May  when  the  General  Assembly  was  to  convene  in 
Columbus,  Ohio. 

This  second  trip  was  even  more  extended  and  more 
exhausting  than  the  first.  During  the  three  months,  from 
February  seventeenth  to  May  sixteenth,  the  day  set  for  the 
opening  of  the  General  Assembly,  he  traversed  the  states  of 
Pennsylvania,  Illinois,  Ohio,  Delaware,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Washington,  D.  C,  West  Virginia,  Iowa,  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Colorado,  Utah,  Idaho,  Montana,  Washington, 
Oregon,  California,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Texas,  and 
Michigan.  In  many  of  their  great  cities  he  conducted 
from  one  to  six  meetings  nearly  every  day.  These  services 
were  held  in  churches,  in  Theological  Seminaries,  in  Canton- 
ments and  Naval  Stations,  in  State  Universities,  in  Denomi- 
national and  State  Colleges  and  in  Indian  Schools.  The  only 
break  in  the  long  journey  was  in  February  when,  for  sheer 
lack  of  strength,  he  was  compelled  to  rest  for  two  days. 


CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE  303 

,  His  report  to  the  General  Assembly  showed  that,  from 
January  first  to  May  sixteenth,  1918,  he  had  delivered  two 
hundred  and  forty-three  addresses,  attended  ninety-two 
conferences,  and  visited  seventy  cities.  During  the  year  he 
had  travelled  forty-one  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty 
miles.  In  addition  to  the  many  services  he  was  obliged  to 
care  for  an  unusually  large  correspondence. 

At  the  close  of  1917  he  had  written  to  one  of  his  friends  a 
New  Year  Greeting  in  which,  among  other  things,  he  said: 

Nineteen  Hundred  and  Eighteen  will  be  a  year  of  glorious  op- 
portunity, but  it  will  also  be  a  year  of  solemn  responsibility.  Only 
God  knows  what  its  history  is  to  be.  Perhaps,  if  we  knew,  our  faces 
would  whiten  and  our  hearts  would  ache;  but  the  year  is  to  be  made  up 
of  days  and  weeks  and  months,  and  we  shall  pass  through  some  of 
these,  and  by  our  side  the  Master  will  walk,  if  we  are  but  willing  to 
yield  our  wills  to  His  and  to  follow  the  pathway  which  He  has  marked 
out.  It  will  be  glorious  to  live  in  these  days  if  our  wills  are  in  harmony 
with  His. 

He  had  entered  upon  the  year  with  great  enthusiasm  and 
with  no  apprehension  that  it  was  to  be  his  last  on  earth 
until  the  day  of  its  regeneration.  He  had  desired  that  the 
spirit  of  loyalty  and  liberty  cherished  by  his  own  Church 
might  be  expressed  to  the  Church  in  Europe. 

In  a  letter,  dated  December  twenty-sixth,  1917,  ad- 
dressed to  Dr.  Foulkes,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Church  Activities  of  the  National  Service  Commission,  the 
Stated  Clerk  of  the  Assembly  wrote: 

After  careful  consideration  of  all  the  issues  involved,  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  National  Service  Commission  unanimously  ap- 
proved the  suggestion  of  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  that 
a  deputation  representing  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.  be 
sent  upon  a  visitation  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Scotland, 
England,  Ireland,  and  Wales. 


304     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

The  purpose  of  this  visitation,  it  was  understood,  was  to  bring  to  our 
Presbyterian  brethren  across  the  sea  the  assurance  of  our  whole- 
hearted cooperation  with  them  in  the  present  world-struggle;  to  in- 
form them  of  the  activities  and  plans  of  our  own  Church  in  connection 
with  the  war  and  the  period  immediately  to  follow;  to  come  with  them 
to  a  fuller  application  of  the  underlying  principles  of  our  common 
faith;  and  to  bring  back  to  our  own  Church  the  mature  counsel  of 
those  who  have  been  long  bearing  the  burdens  which  are  just  begin- 
ning to  rest  upon  us.  This  purpose,  it  was  believed,  would  involve 
a  series  of  meetings  in  the  large  centres  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
such  as  Belfast,  Cardifif,  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  Aberdeen,  and  London. 
These  meetings  will  be  somewhat  similar  to  the  rallies  already  held 
in  various  sections  of  our  own  country.  In  them  our  deputation  would 
confer  with  the  leaders  and  people  of  our  sister  churches  across  the  sea. 
It  is  further  hoped  that  a  visitation  might  be  made  to  the  continent. 

Already  gratifying  assurances  have  been  received  of  the  united 
and  cordial  welcome  of  the  various  Presbyterian  bodies  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland.  Cablegrams  from  Moderators  of  several  of  the 
Assemblies  are  at  hand.  The  Rev.  Dr.  James  Cooper,  Moderator  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  cables— "The  mother  church  cordially  wel- 
comes American  delegation  to  Scotland.'*  The  Rev.  Dr.  Montgomery, 
former  Moderator  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  cables — 
"Irish  Presbyterians  highly  approve  proposed  conferences  at  centres 
mentioned."  It  appears,  therefore,  that  there  is  an  earnest  readiness 
for  such  a  visitation  as  is  proposed. 

To  the  Rev.  J.  T.  Middlemiss,  Moderator  of  the  Synod  of 
the  Presbjrterian  Church  of  England,  Dr.  Chapman  had 
written: 

Dear  Mr.  Moderator: 

It  is  needless  for  us  to  assure  you  of  the  ever-increasing  and  strength- 
ening bond  of  sympathy  which  we  feel  is  uniting  the  Presbyterian 
churches  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  in  this  time  of  war. 

We  are  deeply  concerned  that  our  churches  should  be  lifted,  as  our 
President  Wilson  has  suggested— "to  the  flood  tide  of  spiritual  power." 

We  have  in  mind  the  possibility  of  a  world-wide  movement  of  all 
Presbyterian  bodies.  We  are  now  planning  and  praying  with  this  in 
mind.  Our  National  Service  Commission,  appointed  by  our  last 
General  Assembly,  and  charged  with  special  duties  in  the  light  of  the 
world  conflict,  has  voted  to  send  a  Commission  of  ministers  and  lay- 


CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE  305 

men  to  Great  Britain  to  confer  with  our  brethren  there  regarding  the 
possibilities  of  such  a  movement  and  with  the  hope,  of  course,  that 
there  may  be  such  a  unity  of  action  as  would  make  the  movement 
effective  wherever  Presbyterian  churches  are  found. 

Such  expression  of  confraternity  was  intended  until,  the 
crisis  of  war  having  passed,  it  was  thought  to  be  unnecessary. 

From  England,  Scotland,  and  Australia  there  had  come 
appeals  to  Dr.  Chapman  for  his  return  to  those  countries 
for  extended  evangelistic  work.  This  he  hoped  to  do  when 
relieved  of  the  official  burdens  of  his  office. 

On  Thursday,  May  sixteenth,  1918,  the  One  Hundred 
and  Thirtieth  General  Assembly  convened  in  Memorial 
Hall,  Columbus,  Ohio.  The  opening  sermon  was  preached 
by  Dr.  Chapman,  the  retiring  Moderator,  and  was  followed 
by  a  communion  service. 

The  honour  conferred  by  his  Church  was  the  entablature 
of  his  distinguished  service.  Life  had  reached  its  climax. 
In  composure  of  mind  and  in  tranquillity  of  spirit  his  face 
was  turned  toward  home. 

From  the  sun-lighted  altitudes,  with  no  fear  of  evil,  he 
followed  the  decurrent  path,  through  green  pastures 
and  beside  still  waters,  to  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord 
forever. 

His  closing  days  were  given  to  the  National  Service  Com- 
mission, and  to  the  New  Era  Forward  Movement  of  his 
Church.  This  brought  him  into  fellowship  with  men  to 
whom  he  was  bound  in  ties  of  friendship:  Dr.  John  F. 
Carson,  Dr.  David  G.  Wylie,  Dr.  A.  Woodruff  Halsey,  Dr. 
Robert  E.  Speer,  Mr.  William  A.  Harbison,  Mr.  Arthur 
Curtiss  James,  and  Mr.  Roy  M.  Hart  of  the  National  Service 
Commission;  and  Dr.  William  H.  Foulkes,  Mr.  John  T. 
Manson,  Mr.  A.  R.  Nicol,  Mr.  C.  N.  Wonacott,  and  Mr. 


306     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

James  B.  Wootan  of  the  New  Era  Forward  Movement. 
With  these  men  he  laboured  in  untiring  devotion  until 
June  thirteenth  when  his  physician  declared  that  another 
operation  was  imperative.  From  this  second  operation  it 
was  hoped  there  might  be  a  complete  recovery.  On  July 
twenty-sixth,  to  one  of  his  correspondents  in  England,  he 
wrote: 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  sorry  I  am  that  our  correspondence  has  been 
so  interrupted.  I  have  been  seriously  ill  in  the  hospital  for  many 
weeks  and  have  just  returned  home.  I  have  known  for  a  year  that  I 
would  be  obliged  sooner  or  later  to  have  this  operation.  Of  course  I 
am  weakened  very  much  but  I  shall  be  perfectly  well  in  the  future. 

Encouraged  to  believe  that  the  wound  would  heal  he  con- 
templated the  many  possibilities  of  future  service.  Serious 
problems  created  by  a  war-demoralized  world  were  pressing 
for  solution. 

At  the  end  of  March  there  was  evidence  of  the  tide  turn- 
ing against  the  German  Government.  By  July  first  more 
than  a  million  American  soldiers  were  on  the  soil  of  France. 
In  the  early  part  of  September  the  first  American  army, 
assaulting  the  St.  Mihiel  salient,  recovered  more  than  two 
hundred  square  miles  of  French  territory  and  took  twenty 
thousand  prisoners.  The  United  States  had  available  for 
military  service  thirteen  millions  of  men. 

By  the  middle  of  September  Germany  offered  to  Belgium 
terms  of  peace.  Bulgaria,  at  the  end  of  September,  signed 
an  armistice  and  agreed  to  evacuate  Greece  and  Serbia. 
Immediately  thereafter  Germany,  under  the  pressure  of 
constant  military  disasters,  began  to  disintegrate.  The 
King  of  Bulgaria  abdicated  and  Prince  Maximilian  of 
Badan  proposed  a  cessation  of  hostilities.    Through  the 


CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE  307 

Swiss  Government  there  came  to  the  United  States  a  note 
requesting  the  President  to  take  steps  toward  the  restora- 
tion of  peace.  Austria,  through  the  Swedish  minister,  made 
a  similar  plea.  The  President  replied  that  ''he  would  not 
feel  at  liberty  to  propose  a  cessation  of  arms  to  the  govern- 
ments with  which  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
is  associated  against  the  Central  Powers  so  long  as  the 
armies  of  those  powers  are  upon  their  soil." 

On  October  tenth  the  American  army,  having  been  con- 
stantly engaged  for  two  weeks,  cleared  the  Germans  out  of 
the  Argonne  Forest.  Two  days  later  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment sued  for  mercy  and,  on  the  fourteenth  of  that  month, 
was  compelled  to  conclude  a  separate  peace.  By  the 
twentieth  of  October  the  Belgian  coast  had  been  cleared  of 
the  Germans  and  the  British  army  was  on  its  victorious 
way  to  Brussels.  The  Turkish  army  in  Mesopotamia  sur- 
rendered to  the  British  forces  on  the  thirtieth  of  the  month, 
and  on  the  following  day  the  Inter-Allied  War  Council 
at  Versailles  formulated  the  terms  of  an  armistice  that 
was  to  be  presented  to  Germany. 

The  terms  were  delivered  to  the  German  envoys  on  No- 
vember fifth  and,  on  the  seventh,  word  that  signatures  had 
been  affixed  created  the  wildest  enthusiasm  in  New  York 
City. 

On  that  day  Dr.  Chapman  was  in  his  New  York  Office. 
We  dined  together  at  the  Aldine  Club  on  Fifth  Avenue. 
Suddenly  there  came  the  sound  of  whistles  blowing,  and  of 
bells  ringing,  and  of  the  roar  of  many  human  voices.  We 
left  the  dining  room  and  from  the  windows  on  the  twelfth 
floor  looked  out  upon  the  street  beneath  where  "scraps  of 
paper"  like  a  swirling  snowstorm  were  sweeping  down  upon 
the  crowds  that  had  filled  the  avenue.    Even  when  it  be- 


308     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

came  known  that  the  report  was  premature  there  was  no 
abatement  of  enthusiasm.    The  end  was  in  sight. 

On  the  eighth  of  November  the  German  envoys  were 
given  notice  that  the  terms  of  the  armistice  must  be  ac- 
cepted within  seventy-two  hours.  The  terms  were  ac- 
cepted and  on  November  eleventh  the  armistice  was  signed. 
The  war  was  over.  The  Peace  Council  assembled  in  Paris 
to  frame  a  treaty  of  permanent  peace. 

With  the  ending  of  the  war  the  life  of  the  great  evangehst 
drew  near  to  its  close.  The  second  operation  had  proved 
ineffective  and  on  December  twenty-third  he  was  compelled 
to  return  to  the  hospital.  ''He  wanted  to  wait" — wrote 
his  wife  to  the  soldier  son  in  France — ''until  after  Christmas 
Day  so  that  all  the  family  might  be  without  apprehension." 

But  delay  was  dangerous,  and  on  the  evening  of  December 
twenty-third  the  operation  was  performed.  The  following 
day  there  was  hope  of  an  ultimate  and  complete  recovery. 
But  the  life  so  profluent  in  action  had  turned  its  flood  and 
the  ebb  was  flowing  fast. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Return  had  been  the  inspira- 
tion of  his  ministry.  He  had  hoped  that  he  might  be  alive 
when  the  glory  of  that  epiphany  should  break  upon  the 
world.  But  God  had  measured  his  days  to  link  him  in  death 
to  that  blessed  hope. 

On  Christmas  morning,  between  the  darkness  and  the 
dawn,  when  the  morning  star,  the  symbol  of  his  Lord's  Re- 
turn, was  glimmering,  beauteous  and  relucent,  in  the  face 
of  the  sky,  in  the  quivering  light  of  it,  the  darkness  passed 
and  with  it  the  perfected  spirit  into  the  cloudless  sunrise 
of  a  serene  and  never-dying  day. 

William  Asher,  a  veteran  in  many  a  spiritual  campaign, 
kept  silent  and  sorrowful  vigil  over  the  earthly  tabernacle 


CLIMAX  AND  CLOSE  309 

until  it  was  borne  to  the  manse  of  the  Fourth  Presbyterian 
Church,  New  York  City,  the  scene  of  the  great  evangelist's 
last  pastorate. 

Simple  and  without  ostentation  were  the  solemn  obsequies. 
At  the  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church,  on  the  morning  of 
December  twenty-ninth,  his  friends  paid  tribute  to  his 
personal  worth;  and  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  in  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  recognition  was  given 
to  his  public  service. 

At  Woodlawn,  the  silent  city  of  the  dead,  the  setting  sun, 
hurling  back  her  flames  into  the  crystal  blue  of  tlie  sky, 
transfigures  the  falling  curtain  of  the  night  into  gates  of 
pearl  and  streets  of  gold. 

So  the  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  and  assure  the 
sorrowing  soul  that  at  evening  time  there  shall  be  light. 

Upon  the  centopath,  the  witness  to  the  indestructible 
love  that  placed  it  there,  we  read  through  gathering  tears: 

J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN 
TO  LIVE  IS  CHRIST  TO  DIE  IS  GAIN 


CHAPTER  XIX 

PERSONALITY 

Personality  is  elusive  and  as  defiant  of  definition  as  the 
expression  on  the  face  of  the  Sphinx.  Delineation,  when 
attempted,  too  often  through  adulation  or  disparagement, 
fashions  but  a  caricature.  For  face  and  form  the  hehograph 
is  trustworthy  and  impartial  to  beauty  or  ugliness;  but  the 
photographer  who  can  develop  the  one  and  diminish  the 
other  gratifies  his  patrons  and  enjoys  popular  favour. 

But  no  artist  can  modulate  the  song  of  the  nightingale 
or  bourgeon  the  feathers  of  a  partridge  into  the  plumage  of 
a  bird  of  paradise.  These  creatures  are  differentiated  and 
self-revealing  only  through  appearance,  habit  and  temper, 
carriage  and  conduct;  and,  in  the  same  manner,  personality, 
behind  the  screen,  gives  but  cryptic  exhibition  to  self- 
expression.  We  observe  and  make  note  of  face  and  form, 
thought  and  mode  of  expression,  habitual  method  of  life 
and  action,  characteristics,  typical  and  peculiar;  and,  as- 
sembling such  data  into  some  sort  of  synthesis,  call  it  per- 
sonality. 

But  the  flames  that  flash  and  fade  in  the  smoke  tell  us 
nothing  of  the  heat  that  produces  them.  So  beyond  all  out- 
ward manifestation  and  observed  phenomena  personality 
remains  unrevealable.  Yet  on  such  evidence,  presumptive 
and  secondary,  our  judgment  is  based.  By  like  process 
we  may  get  a  glimpse,  at  least,  of  Dr.  Chapman's  personality 
— ^the  hidden  man  encased  in  its  outward  form. 

310 


PERSONALITY  311 

He  was  by  nature  reserved;  clothed  with  an  unexpected 
dignity  that,  if  it  puzzled  you,  left  him  impenetrable.  Such 
aloofness  led  you  to  think  of  him  as  detached  and  distant, 
if  not  inaccessible  and  unapproachable.  But  within  the 
barrier  of  self-repression  he  was  gracious  and  genial,  courte- 
ous and  considerate.  Despite  his  native  diffidence  there 
was  always  about  him  a  conflicting  air  of  self-reliance;  this 
suggesting  strength,  the  other  weakness. 

He  was  above  the  average  height.  His  frame  was  strong 
and  compact,  and  he  possessed  an  extraordinary  power  to 
recuperate  from  depression  or  overwork.  With  an  enor- 
mous capacity  for  sustained  labour,  his  physique  seemed 
equal  to  any  burden.    Heart  and  intellect  worked  together. 

The  flow  of  his  life  had  the  velocity  and  vehemence  of 
the  mountain  torrent.  Beginning  in  the  heights,  as  the 
outlet  of  a  reservoir  of  an  immense  native  force,  it  swept  on 
unceasingly  save  when  checked  by  physical  exhaustion 
which  reacted  like  the  stone  basin  ledge  that  gathers  the 
water  into  greater  volume  only  to  hurl  it  onward  with  in- 
creased momentum. 

And  yet  this  restless  energy,  always  crowding  for  expres- 
sion, was  neither  boisterous  nor  spasmodic;  it  was  steady, 
controlled,  resistless — like  the  surge  of  the  full  tide.  Some 
of  the  heaviest  of  his  responsibilities  were  assumed  while 
under  the  embarrassment  of  grave  physical  disability  of 
later  years,  but  in  despite  his  will  power  seemed  to  create 
new  reserves  to  feed  the  flame  and  keep  up  steam  for  over- 
time and  long  hauls. 

In  the  prime  of  vigour  and  during  his  long  and  exacting 
revival  campaigns  his  force  never  faltered  and  his  passion 
never  waned.  Back  of  all  action  there  was  a  sustaining 
spirit,  a  bounding  impulse,  a  burning  conviction,  a  super- 


312     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

human  zeal  that  carried  him  to  the  very  heart  of  the  conflict 
and  kept  him  there  until  the  slaves  for  whom  he  fought  were 
free  men  in  Christ. 

He  "gave  the  impression" — as  one  that  knew  him  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  has  said — "that  he  was  aware  of  the 
destiny-telling  nature  of  his  work  and  of  the  necessity  that 
he  should  employ  all  human  and  divine  powers  in  the  prose- 
cution of  his  tasks.  He  knew  that  he  was  the  agent  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  that  he  dare  not  violate  the  message  of  that 
Spirit  nor  employ  any  methods  discordant  with  the  Spirit. 
He  knew  that  the  soul  of  man  was  to  be  reverenced  as  related 
to  God,  and  that  in  dealing  with  it  all  skill  and  delicacy 
needed  to  be  employed.  Hence  Dr.  Chapman,  true  as  steel 
to  the  Gospel  and  to  man's  welfare,  never  violated  good 
taste,  never  was  unrefined,  never  dissociated  the  Gospel 
from  that  which  is  choice  and  dignified  in  human  culture."* 

It  was  no  mere  tribute  to  conventionality,  but  rather  a 
consciousness  of  moral  obligation,  that  kept  him  from  the 
violation  of  good  form  in  manner  and  message.  There  were 
times  when  he  would  pass  from  something  worthy  to  some- 
thing laughable,  but  never  in  the  pulpit  nor  on  the  platform. 
Under  his  passionate  appeal  decisions  were  to  determine 
human  destiny.  With  such  solemn  issue  there  could  be  no 
trifling. 

In  constantly  keeping  to  the  higher  levels,  both  in  manner 
and  expression,  we  have — as  Dr.  Hill  says: 

An  explanation  of  his  power  in  the  pulpit  making  him  the  world's 
great  evangelist.  Not  in  clear  thinking — but  he  was  always  lucid; 
not  in  accuracy  and  felicity  of  expression — and  in  this  he  never  failed; 
not  in  faultless  delivery— yet  his  manner  was  irresistible,  was  the 


•Rev.  Edward  Yates  Hill,  D.  D.,  in  a  memorial  address  delivered  in  Philadelphia, 
January  12,  1919. 


PERSONALITY  313 

secret  of  his  power:  it  was  rather  in  that  quaKty  found  in  supremest 
measure  in  Christ — surpassingly  spiritual  and  moral  persuasiveness. 
Even  when  making  no  appeal,  he  was  appealing.  He  might  be  severe 
yet  his  kindness  gripped  the  heart.  He  might  be  terribly  direct  yet 
his  sympathy  failed  antagonism.    His  sword  was  bathed  in  heaven. 

In  public  service  his  presence  was  commanding.  His 
gravity  and  dignity  of  manner  gave  authority  to  every 
spoken  word.  His  thought,  never  flat  nor  stale,  but  imagi- 
native and  epigrammatic,  was  expressed  in  direct  and  simple 
speech  that  appealed  less  to  culture  than  to  the  primitive 
emotions.  His  illustrations  were  windows  through  which 
you  looked  out  upon  the  living  realities.  There  were  no 
doubts,  no  negations,  no  shadows,  no  clouds  floating  through 
purple  mists  into  nebulous  nothing. 

His  voice,  rich,  deep,  and  musical,  arrested  and  held  the 
attention  like  the  softened  sound  of  martial  music.  His 
electric  sentences,  brilliant  at  times,  were  like  flashes  of 
lightning.  They  leaped  from  his  mind  molten.  The 
Hame  seemed  to  be  hurled  by  the  outstretched  forefinger. 
Such  was  the  impression  made  upon  you  when  he  was  speak- 
ing. Afterward,  when  you  read  these  same  sentences,  ex- 
pressed in  cold  type  by  the  newspapers,  they  seemed  sterile 
and  commonplace,  which  lays  emphasis  upon  the  fact — so 
often  ignored — that  manner  is  of  importance  no  less  than 
matter. 

In  theology  Dr.  Chapman  was  a  conservative.  He  be- 
lieved in  the  ancient  doctrines,  not  because  they  were  an- 
cient, but  on  evidence  of  experience  that  precluded  reason- 
able doubt. 

The  probationary  ages  before  Christ  had  reduced  to 
demonstration  the  moral  unity  of  mankind.  The  world  by 
Jt«;  own  evidence  had  proved  itself  under  condemnation. 


314     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

Man  was  lost  beyond  self-recovery.  There  was  no  hope 
save  in  God.  The  plan  of  redemption,  involving  the  new 
birth,  however  incomprehensible  to  the  inquiring  Nicode- 
mus,  was  easily  apprehended  by  the  dying  sinner.  Such 
facts  Dr.  Chapman  accepted  as  fundamental.  He  knew  the 
source  and  course  of  evil,  administered  the  remedy,  and 
found  it  to  be  sovereign  and  sure.  His  conclusion,  based 
on  the  logic  of  facts,  was  crucial  and  decisive.  Hence  his 
religion  was  not  so  much  of  theology  and  scholarship  as  it 
was  of  service  and  sacrifice. 

He  repudiated  uncompromisingly  the  spurious  but  pop- 
ular Gospel  that  prescribes  material  remedies  for  social  ills, 
and  was  enough  of  an  Aristotelian  philosopher  to  believe 
"that  social  wrong  is  only  the  symbol  of  spiritual  wrong, 
and  that  spiritual  remedies  will  alone  heal  what  is  ultimately 
a  spiritual  malady." 

He  neither  sought  nor  was  credited  with  great  erudition. 
To  the  one  Gospel,  as  revealed  in  the  New  Testament,  he 
confined  himself.  He  was  regarded  by  some  as  old  fash- 
ioned and  out  of  date,  but  none  questioned  his  achieve- 
ments. 

Two  ministers  in  Boston  were  leaving  Tremont  Temple 
after  Dr.  Chapman  had  preached. 

*'The  same  old  thing,"  said  one  with  a  sneer. 

"Yes,"  replied  the  other,  "with  the  same  old  results." 

They  were  of  different  opinion,  but  in  their  point  of  view 
they  were  poles  apart. 

His  brilliant  success  in  fishing  for  men  evoked  the  wonder 
— if  not  the  envy — of  those  lamenting  that  they  "have 
toiled  all  night,  and  have  taken  nothing." 

Dr.  Chapman  fished  on  while  his  variously  minded  spec- 
tators counted  and  sorted  and  depreciated  the  haul  his  nets 


PERSONALITY  315 

brought  to  the  shore.  Having  finished  the  computation 
they  returned  to  the  ordinary  occupation  of  "mending  their 
nets." 

Dr.  Chapman,  Hke  General  Booth  at  seventy-nine,  went 
on  fishing — "fishing  for  souls  in  the  same  old  way,  with  the 
same  old  net";  and,  repeating  the  words  of  the  Boston 
minister,  we  may  add — "with  the  same  old  results." 

If  he  was  considered  narrow  in  theology,  he  was  acknowl- 
edged by  all  to  be  cosmopolitan  in  sympathy.  His  benevo- 
lences and  affections  were  worldwide. 

He  studied  the  interests  of  the  human  race,  not  merely  for 
philanthropic  and  humane  reasons,  but  to  give  men  the 
Gospel  as  the  only  criterion  of  action  and  basis  of  morality. 
This  was  the  great  commission  delivered  to  the  Church, 
and  he  was  a  Church  statesman. 

To  quote  Dr.  Hill  again: 

The  individualism  of  his  evangel  did  not  obscure  his  sense  of  the 
Church's  responsibility  to  meet  the  social  sins  and  moral  abuses  of 
this  generation.  He  held  that  the  Church  must  enter  with  vigour  and 
consecration  upon  a  New  Era  in  which  religion  should  be  given  sanc- 
tion and  strength  to  a  great  reformation  of  conduct  in  all  nations. 
His  influence  in  the  churches  was  centripetal,  drawing  the  denomina- 
tion together  in  closer  fellowship  and  union  for  the  redemption  of  life. 

As  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Church  Cooperation 
and  Union  he  laboured,  with  a  somewhat  vague  hope  of 
ultimate  organic  union,  to  bring  the  evangelical  churches 
into  cooperation.  He  was  the  Chairman  of  a  Sub-Committee 
on  the  Union  of  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  churches  and 
believed  thoroughly  in  such  denominational  cooperation. 

He  made  a  good  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly,  not 
because  of  his  familiarity  with  parliamentary  law  nor  be- 
cause the  incarnation  of  that  law,  Dr.  Roberts,  stood  at  his 


316     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

elbow;  but  because  when,  through  ignorance  of  the  one  or 
disregard  of  the  other,  he  became  entangled  by  debate  and 
saw  evidence  of  rising  irritation,  he  would  clear  the  atmos- 
phere and  extricate  himself  by  starting  a  hymn  in  which 
the  Assembly  would  join  and  laughingly  let  it  go  at  that. 

Dr.  W.  S.  Rollings,  in  ''A  Review  and  an  Appreciation" 
at  the  close  of  the  Adelaide  mission,  wrote : 


Doctor  Chapman  counted  for  much  in  the  previous  mission;  he 
counted  for  more  in  this.  Then  he  became  the  spiritual  father  of 
hundreds;  now  his  spiritual  family  in  South  Austraha  has  received 
great — yes,  great  both  in  point  of  numbers  and  character — accessions. 

Those  who  have  the  ability  to  judge,  and  the  right  to  speak,  will  say 
that  in  preaching,  in  evangelism,  and  in  generalship  he  has  grown  since 
his  last  visit.  He  speaks  out  of  a  fuller  knowledge,  a  finer  judgment, 
and  a  richer  experience.  He  has  been,  and  still  is,  pressing  toward 
the  goal.  In  whatsoever  business  a  man  may  be  engaged,  whatever 
may  be  his  religious  position  or  outlook,  it  would  be  an  education  in  all 
that  makes  for  personality  to  get  near  to  Dr.  Chapman  in  the  conduct 
of  a  great  mission. 

His  generalship  is  not  obtrusive,  but  simply  superb  and  superbly 
simple.  There  is  no  litter  about  his  soul's  premises,  no  dust  or  fog 
in  the  atmosphere  of  his  brain.  He  has  a  master  purpose — that  is, 
to  save  men  from  sin  to  God.  And  he  goes  the  straightest  way  to 
reach  the  goal  and  gets  there.  But  behind  the  master  purpose  there 
is  a  master  passion,  the  dynamic  of  the  purpose,  and  that  is  love  for 
men  inspired  by  love  for  Christ.  A  master  purpose,  the  forces  of 
which  are  fed  by  the  fires  of  a  master  passion,  that  expresses  Dr.  Chap- 
man. His  swift,  clear  utterances;  his  balanced  judgement  that  not 
once  lapsed  into  a  blunder  of  indiscretion  of  expression;  his  large  char- 
ity that  compels  his  silence  in  the  face  of  criticism,  or  leads  him  only 
to  excuse  it;  his  appreciation  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  and  the 
honour  he  does  them,  and  the  loyalty  he  shows  them;  his  ability  to 
toil  terribly  (to  put  it  mildly)  without  vital  exhaustion— these,  and  all 
the  etceteras  of  his  powerful  personality  may  be  traced  back  to  the 
master  purpose  and  the  master  passion  of  his  life.  These  express  him, 
but  do  not  explain  him.  His  highest  power  is  elusive;  it  will  not  yield 
its  secret  to  critical  analysis;  it  belongs  to  the  region  spiritual  and  not 
intellectual.    His  personality  plus  quality  and  intensity,  which  goes 


PERSONALITY  317 

to  make  up  a  man  of  God.  A  man  of  God!  The  man  we  can  know; 
Ijut  the  infinite  powers  of  which  he  becomes  the  instrument  who  can 
fathom  or  explore?  Dr.  Chapman  is  an  instrument  of  Christ,  and 
that  alone  accounts  for  his  success  in  soul-winning;  and  he  is  the  first 
to  place  the  crown  of  all  his  being  and  doing  on  the  brow  that  was 
wet  with  the  blood  upon  the  cross. 

One  picture  of  Dr.  Chapman  will  remain  with  the  writer — many,  but 
one  above  the  many.  It  was  after  the  men's  meeting  on  the  last 
Sunday  afternoon  of  the  mission.  Six  thousand  men  had  been  held 
for  nearly  two  hours.  Scores  of  them  had  made  the  great  choice. 
It  was  nearly  five  o'clock,  and,  except  for  the  converts  in  the  front 
seats  of  the  building,  only  a  few  remained.  But  to  these  Dr.  Chapman 
made  one  more  appeal.  And  from  the  few,  some  came  to  Christ.  He 
will  get  the  utmost  he  can  out  of  every  meeting  for  Christ.  He  does 
make  the  utmost  use  of  the  opportunity  to  save  men,  and  so  his  glean- 
ings are  more  than  the  harvestings  of  many.  We  magnify  Christ  in 
him. 

It  was  not,  however,  by  the  general  public  that  Dr. 
Chapman  was  best  known  and  loved.  Like  many  other 
men  rising  to  international  recognition  he  had  no  large 
circle  of  personal  and  intimate  friends.  His  natural  reserve 
kept  many  at  a  distance  who,  had  they  broken  through  this 
barrier,  would  have  found  him  one  of  the  most  delightful 
and  genial  companions.  Possessed  of  a  rare  sense  of  humour, 
this  was  with  him — as  with  Spurgeon — a  saving  grace. 
Walking  along  the  street  nothing  that  appealed  to  the  lu- 
dicrous escaped  him.  On  one  occasion,  passing  a  great 
building,  he  stopped  short  and  pointing  to  a  sign,  said: 
"Read  that!'*  The  sign  merely  announced  the  names  of  a 
law  firm,  but  in  this  case  the  partners  happened  to  be 
"Ketcham  and  Cheatam."  He  had  a  fine  memory  for 
good  stories  and  could  tell  them  so  cleverly  that  even  the 
repetition  of  an  old  one  would  evoke  a  genuine  laugh.  To 
introduce  a  "Joe  Miller'* — insuring  for  him  a  genial  recep- 
tion— ^involves  that  rare  gift  possessed  only  by  those  with 


318     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

whom  the  perception  of  humour  and  gift  of  its  expression 
are  as  nearly  balanced  as  they  were  with  Dr.  Chapman. 

His  campaigns  were  so  long  and  so  exacting  that  he  in 
reality  had  few  periods  of  relaxation  and  for  this  reason  he 
enjoyed  such  intermissions  all  the  more.  There  were  two 
amusements  that  had  for  mm  a  singular  attraction:  a  Negro 
minstrel  and  a  country  circus.  At  a  country  circus,  with 
the  usual  bag  of  peanuts,  with  a  group  of  children  around 
him,,  keenly  alive  to  everything  that  was  going  on,  more  in- 
terested in  the  people  than  in  the  show,  he  gave  of  himself 
a  greater  self -revelation  than  at  many  of  his  more  stately 
public  functions.  For  a  man  given  to  the  contemplation 
of  the  serious  things  of  life  some  capacity  and  vent  for 
humour  is  of  inexpressible  value.  Good  hiunour  and  liber- 
ality are  usually  bound  together,  and  Dr.  Chapman  was 
one  of  the  most  generous  of  men.  Large  sums  of  money 
passed  through  his  hands  but,  freely  as  he  received,  so  freely 
did  he  give. 

During  his  term  as  Secretary  of  the  Evangelistic  Commit- 
tee there  prevailed  at  one  time  an  opinion  that  under  his 
administration  the  expenses  were  lavish  if  not  extravagant. 
The  fund  upon  which  he  drew,  however,  was  the  personal 
gift  of  Mr.  John  H.  Converse.  The  criticism  of  extrava- 
gance led  to  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  with  instruc- 
tions to  bring  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  Mr.  Converse. 
Dr.  John  Willis  Baer  was  a  member  of  that  Committee 
and  discharged  his  function  at  a  luncheon  in  New  York. 
Mr.  Converse  listened  patiently  and  without  interruption 
until  Dr.  Baer  had  finished  and  then  quietly  remarked — 
"Has  it  ever  occurred  to  the  Committee  that  this  is  my 
money?'*  This  question  silenced  the  critics  and  Dr.  Chap- 
man continued  the  expenditures. 


PERSONALITY  319 

He  accumulated  for  himself  no  fortune  and  was  insured 
only  for  so  modest  an  amount  as  was  necessary  to  meet 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  natural  obligation  of  kinship. 
Scores  of  young  men  were  led  into  the  ministry  by  his 
influence,  and  many  of  them  were  carried  through  their 
preparatory  and  college  course  by  the  contributions  received 
from  him.  No  one  ever  appealed  to  him  in  vain.  He  gave 
ungrudgingly,  even  when  he  had  a  suspicion  that  ad- 
vantage was  being  taken  of  his  generosity. 

Trustful  of  others  he  did  not  always  see  the  traps  set  by 
the  "Knights  of  the  Rosy  Cross." 

On  one  occasion  a  pious  gold-brick  distributor  sold  him  an 
orange  grove  in  Porto  Rico.  This  was  to  be  a  fortune 
winner.  In  a  few  years  it  would  produce  an  income  that 
would  lift  his  name  to  a  conspicuous  place  on  the  surtax 
list  and  provide  a  surplus  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  divide 
the  winters  between  Palm  Beach  and  Cairo. 

The  golden  glow  of  the  orange  has  its  fascination. 
This  grove  was  so  potentially  prolific  and  so  alluringly 
promising  that  it  would  require  no  personal  supervision. 
The  promoters,  at  a  nominal  cost  to  the  purchaser,  anxious 
to  enrich  their  patrons,  would  cultivate  and  care  for  it 
until  the  golden  fruit,  large  and  luscious,  would  make 
automatically  and  annually  princely  returns. 

The  grove  was  purchased  and  there  followed  a  period  of 
"watchful  waiting"  for  the  oncoming  argosy  that  was  to  set 
him  free,  henceforth  and  forever,  from  all  care  and  "worldly 
avocations." 

Time  passed  and  no  south  wind,  blowing  softly,  laden 
with  the  fragrance  of  orange  blossoms,  regaled  the  nostrils 
fixedly  extended  in  that  direction.  He  decided  to  go  to 
Porto  Rico  and  investigate  his  purchase.    On  a  bright 


320     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

morning,  having  arrived  at  the  Island  of  Promise,  he  fared 
forth  on  horseback  from  San  Juan  to  scrutinize  his  acquest. 
Arriving  at  his  arboretum,  he  stood  up  in  the  stirrups  in 
order  that  he  might  obtain  a  wider  view  of  his  fortune- 
breeding  orangery.  There  spread  before  him  a  few  acres 
of  ground  on  which,  at  irregular  spots,  there  appeared  a  tope 
of  shrubbery  that  was  devoid  of  any  sjnnptom  of  impulsive 
vitality.  In  the  middle  of  his  orchard  were  rooted  three 
lonely  cocoanut  palms  of  exuberant  foliage. 

The  friend  that  was  with  him,  noticing  his  face,  upon 
which  there  was  a  mingled  expression  of  perplexity  and  pain, 
cheerfully  observed:  ''Never  mind,  Wilbur,  you  have  a 
noble  cocoanut  grove  from  which  you  ought  to  be  able  to 
gather  enough  nuts  to  induce  some  other  preacher  to  buy  the 
property." 

His  home  was  ever  open  to  his  friends,  and  the  warmth  of 
his  hospitality  made  a  visit  one  of  continuous  delight.  He 
seemed  to  know  intuitively  how  to  entertain  and  to  make  at 
home  the  friends  he  loved  to  have  about  him.  He  would 
follow  you  to  the  guest  room,  assure  himself  that  every 
provision  had  been  made  for  your  comfort,  and  leave  you 
with  the  comfortable  thought  that  you  need  not  be  con- 
cerned about  rising,  for  he  himself  would  call  you  in  ample 
time  for  breakfast.  Everything  that  he  possessed  was  at 
your  disposal.  You  could  drive  his  horses,  commandeer  his 
automobile,  make  use  of  his  books,  dictate  to  his  secretary, 
and — strange  to  say — he  would  feel  hurt  if  you  did  not 
leave  your  letters  with  him  to  provide  the  postage  and  mail. 

He  was  immaculate  in  appearance;  the  embodiment  of 
neatness  and  good  taste.  With  him  dirt  and  disorder  were 
impossible  associates.  He  lost  no  time  looking  for  books  or 
papers  that  he  needed.    A  place  for  everything  and  every- 


PERSONALITY  321 

thing  in  its  place  was  an  inexorable  statute  in  the  code  of  his 
custom.  System  and  regularity  marked  the  routine  of  each 
day,  and  when  night  came  no  skeins  were  left  to  be  un- 
ravelled. 

He  was  always  punctual  in  the  keeping  of  his  appoint- 
ments. Rarely  if  ever  was  he  known  to  be  one  minute 
behind  the  time  fixed  for  an  interview. 

He  was  thought  by  some  to  be  imperious.  He  was  when 
defending  his  convictions  of  right.  Convince  him  that  he 
was  in  the  wrong  and  none  more  beautifully  than  he  ex- 
hibited the  grace  of  humility. 

Perhaps  his  most  distinctive  characteristic  was  an 
extreme  sensitiveness.  A  word  of  criticism  would  cut  like  a 
knife.  A  word  of  commendation  would  evoke  the  deepest 
gratitude.  Criticism  levelled  against  him  personally 
troubled  him  less  than  that  aimed  at  his  work.  Few  men 
were  more  responsive  to  a  kind  word  spoken  or  a  good  deed 
done.    He  never  forgot  either  the  one  or  the  other. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  value  he  placed  on  personal 
consideration  the  following  incident  that  occurred  while  he 
was  a  patient  in  the  hospital  may  be  related : 

During  that  time  Dr.  Jowett  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presby- 
terian Church  had  made  several  calls.  Afterward,  when 
Dr.  Chapman  was  convalescing  in  Atlantic  City,  Dr. 
Jowett  slipped  away  from  New  York  for  a  few  days'  rest. 
Following  his  return  to  New  York  he  received  a  letter  as 
follows: 


My  dear  Dr.  Jowett: 

When  I  said  "Good-bye"  to  you  this  morning,  I  realized  that  I 
had  lost  an  opportunity  of  saying  to  you  something  that  had  been  in 
my  heart  to  say  ever  since  you  called  upon  me  at  the  hospital.  I 
know  how  busy  your  life  must  be,  and  I  know  that  for  you  to  have 


822     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

taken  time  out  of  your  work  to  visit  me  three  times  in  the  hospital 
must  have  caused  you  at  least  a  personal  effort.  But  what  I  wanted 
to  say  to  you  is  this — that  I  am  sure  you  will  never  know  how  much 
you  did  for  me. 

I  have  had  a  very  strenuous  ministry,  as  you  may  imagine,  and  prac- 
tically all  of  my  life  since  I  entered  the  ministry  has  been  given  up  to 
ministering  to  others.  When  you  came  into  my  room  and  prayed  for 
me,  you  touched  me  very  deeply,  and  you  helped  me  more  than  you 
will  ever  know. 

You  also  made  me  understand,  as  I  think  I  had  not  understood  it 
before,  how  gracious  and  beautiful  is  the  personal  ministry  of  a  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel.  I  wanted  to  say  these  things  to  you  instead  of 
attempting  to  write  them,  but  I  hesitated  while  you  were  here  to  break 
in  upon  your  rest  and  then  besides,  I  was  resting  myself.  Your  min- 
istry is  a  great  inspiration  to  me,  as  it  is  to  thousands  of  others. 

The  extent  of  his  correspondence  was  enormous.  He 
received  many  curious  letters — some  wise  and  some  other- 
wise— ^instructing  him  how  to  preach,  correcting  his 
theology,  suggesting  new  methods,  asking  all  manner  of 
questions  on  almost  every  conceivable  subject. 

"What  strange  communications/'  wrote  one  of  his 
Scottish  correspondents,  "you  must  receive!  Your  mail 
must  be  like  a  fisherman's  trawl— lots  of  fine  fish,  but  a 
deal  of  the  crab  order." 

People  perplexed  with  religious  problems  pressed  him 
for  a  solution. 

To  an  inquiry,  in  reference  to  certain  amusements  and 
rules  to  govern  the  religious  life,  he  replied: 

It  is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  make  a  rule  for  another  to  live  by. 
The  rule  which  governs  my  life  is  this:  anything  that  dims  my  vision 
of  Christ,  or  takes  away  my  taste  for  Bible  study,  or  cramps  me  in  my 
prayer  life,  or  makes  Christian  work  difficult,  is  wrong  for  me,  and  I 
must,  as  a  Christian,  turn  away  from  it. 

So  he  regulated  his  own  conduct  and  nothing  better  could 
he  prescribe  for  others. 


PERSONALITY  323 

He  treasured  and  preserved  correspondence  concerning 
the  converts  of  his  mission. 
In  the  early  part  of  1917  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Alexander: 

I  had  two  letters  yesterday  from  Scotland.  One  of  them  was  from 
Mrs. of Her  boy  was  killed  at  the  Front.  He  was  con- 
verted in  our  meetings.  Two  other  boys  came  forward  with  him; 
one  of  them  has  also  died  at  the  Front. 

In  the  same  mail  I  had  a  letter  from  Pastor and  he  told  me 

of  two  young  men  who  had  just  been  received  into  the  Tabernacle, 
both  of  whom  gave  a  ringing  testimony  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
converted  in  our  meetings,  so  that  in  one  mail  I  had  the  word  that 
five  young  men,  trophies  of  ours  had  accepted  Christ.  This  is  most 
encouraging,  is  it  not? 

In  a  letter  from  New  South  Wales — typical  of  many— 
a  father  writes; 

A  year  ago  to-day,  16/11/16,  our  dear  laddie  died  of  wounds  in 
France  while  on  duty  as  a  stretcher-bearer.  To  have  been  one  of  the 
noble  army  of  stretcher-bearers  is  to  have  belonged  to  the  company  of 
brave  souls  who  have  gone  up  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  we  seek 
for  grace  willingly  to  give  him  back  to  Him  who  gave  him  for  a  Uttle 
while  to  us.  The  other  day  his  personal  effects  reached  us  from  the 
battlefield — thank  God  no  German  submarine  got  these  precious 
memorial?— and  in  the  packet  we  found  his  Testament,  all  stained 
with  rain  of  the  Sorame  and  much  used— and  on  the  front  page 


With  regards 
J.  Wilbur  Chapman        John  5:24  June,  1912." 

So  now  you  know  why  I  have  written  you.  This  abides  with  me — 
my  most  treasured  possession— the  little  Testament  of  my  noble  son, 
and  I  am  glad  to  know  you  gave  it  to  him.  This  morning  we  gathered 
at  our  family  altar  and  read  from  it,  in  words  that  have  a  new  meaning 
since  Heaven  has  come  so  near: 

"And  they  shall  see  His  face; 
And  there  shall  be  no  night  there." 

No  wonder  that  Dr.  Chapman  prized  such  imperishable 
memorials  of  spiritual  conquest! 


324     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

To  the  religious  press  he  was  a  frequent  contributor,  and 
was  the  author  of  many  books  and  pamphlets  that  have  had 
wide  circulation.  The  style  of  his  writings  is  distinctive  and 
characteristic,  often  sententious,  never  pedantic.  He  had 
little  time  for  composition,  less  for  revision,  and  none  for 
ornament  or  embellishment.  His  objective  was  helpful- 
ness. The  matter  was  of  more  importance  than  the 
manner.  No  minister  of  the  Gospel  can  read  his  writings 
without  receiving  suggestions  of  immense  value  in  pulpit 
and  pastoral  work. 

In  his  later  years  he  earnestly  endeavoured  to  be  helpful 
to  ministers.  He  sympathized  with  them,  knew  their 
problems,  and  repeatedly  said  that  he  would  regard  as  a 
failure  an  evangelistic  mission  that  did  not  leave  the  church 
stronger  and  the  minister  more  deeply  rooted  in  the  affec- 
tions of  his  people. 

His  interests  were  not  altogether  centred  in  the  work  of 
evangelism,  although  this  in  largest  measure  controlled  his 
thought.  He  was  loyal  to  the  Government  and  a  sincere 
lover  of  his  country.  In  a  letter,  dated  only  two  months 
before  his  death  and  addressed  to  his  son,  a  Captain  with 
the  Expeditionary  Forces  abroad,  he  wrote: 

New  York  is  very  much  excited  in  these  days  because  of  the  Liberty 
Loan.  The  streets  are  crowded  with  people,  bands  of  music  playing 
everywhere,  soldiers  are  marching,  and  every  effort  is  being  made  to 
"go  over  the  top  "  this  week,  as  I  am  sure  we  shall  do.  I  am  a  member 
of  the  Liberty  Loan  Committee  in  Jamaica,  and  last  Sunday  made  an 
address  in  Jamaica  for  the  Liberty  Loan,  the  other  speaker  being 
Captain  O'Dell,  a  Canadian  soldier.  He  was  wounded  twice  and 
gassed  once,  and  is  home  waiting  for  his  strength  to  come  back  again 
when  he  will  return  to  the  Front. 

He  honoured  the  Constitution,  believed  in  its  principles  of 
freedom,  and  met  all  the  obligations  of  citizenship.    He  did 


PERSONALITY  325 

what  he  could  by  voice  and  pen  to  promote  civic  and  social 
righteousness. 

He  was  devotedly  attached  to  children,  especially  to 
those  of  his  own  home,  and  deeply  concerned  that  they 
should  measure  up  to  the  high  ideals  he  cherished  for  them. 
In  another  letter  to  his  son,  of  still  later  date,  he  said: 

Life  would  be  worth  little  to  me  if  you  should  fail  in  any  way,  but 
then  you  will  not,  because  you  are  the  child  of  too  many  prayers. 

In  a  postscript  he  says  of  his  grandchild: 

I  think  the  baby  has  never  been  so  bright  and  interesting  as  at  the 
present  time.  He  keeps  the  whole  house  full  of  sunshine,  and  if  he 
had  dark  eyes  and  dark  hair  he  would  look  as  you  used  to  look  when 
you  were  at  his  age.    We  are  waiting  eagerly  for  some  letter  from  you. 

Affectionate  and  tender  of  heart,  he  clung  with  singular 
tenacity  to  old  memories  and  to  old  friendships.  In  a  letter 
written  December  eighteenth — seven  days  before  his  death 
— ^he  says: 

I  could  hardly  trust  myself  to  come  down  and  tell  you  that  my  oper- 
ation is  near  at  hand,  and  so  I  am  sending  you  this  line  just  to  wish 
you  and  yours  a  Merry  Christmas  and  a  Happy  New  Year. 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  your  friendship  means  to  me.  As 
I  grow  older  I  feel  more  and  more  the  need  of  depending  upon  the 
friends  of  my  early  years  and  upon  no  one  more  than  upon  yourself. 

Always  affectionately  yours. 

The  extinction  from  the  world  of  such  personalities 
would  sap  its  strength  and  seal  its  doom. 

Few  men  die  without  leaving  behind  them  some  trace  of 
bitterness.  Dr.  Chapman  was  often  misunderstood,  more 
often  so  than  fully  known,  and  yet,  now  that  he  has  passed 
beyond  the  pale  of  criticism,  no  cloud  remains  to  dim  the 
lustre   of   his   moral   worth.    He   lived   unselfishly.    In 


326     J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN— A  BIOGRAPHY 

singleness  of  heart  he  laboured  to  give  the  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  to  a  world  of  sinners.  A  countless  number 
came  up  through  his  ministry  out  of  the  mist  and  the 
darkness  of  bondage  into  the  light  and  the  glory  of  an 
established  peace  with  God.  Death  has  failed  to  shatter 
the  tie  that  binds  their  heart  to  his.  Of  this  multitude 
many  were  in  heaven  to  greet  him  there;  others  are  running 
with  patience  the  race  set  before  them:  all  to  be  his 
"crown  of  rejoicing.** 

Eternity  has  recorded  what  Time  has  failed  to  register. 
The  thread  of  Hfe  unwinding  is  woven  into  the  warp  and 
weft  of  the  garment  that  shall  clothe  us  when,  in  resurrec- 
tion, we  shall  stand  before  God.  Blessed  are  they  that 
shall  have  washed  those  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb. 

In  that  day  of  recognition  and  requital  all  covering  veils 
shall  be  removed;  and  personality,  with  no  possibility  of 
inexpression,  shall  be  disclosed,  defined,  and  known. 


THE  END 


THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  PRESS 
GARDEN  CITY,  N.  Y. 


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